CHANDIGARH: Asia’s largest Rose Garden, which has brought Chandigarh on the calendar of national festivals, is facing ex-tinction as over two thirds of the 1,450 world famous rose varieties planted here have vanished, thanks largely to official neglect, The Chandigarh Administration spends only a paltry Rs 50,000 a year of the Rs 6 lakh earmarked for the purpose.
A major portion of the remaining amount is spent on paying salarics to the employees of the Horticulture Department who look after the upkeep of the garden. Official sources said that about Rs 4.7 lakh was spent on the salary of Malis and other employees while electricity tariffaccounted for about Rs 50,000 every year.
Over 400 of the total 1,450 rose varieties initially planted in the garden had survived, the sources said, even though many had outlived their normal life span.
The varieties, which have vanished from the garden, include Schweizer Gold, Farah, Evangeline Bruce, Clare France, Tyrius, Golden Antumn, Old Time, Golden Times, Youth of World and Irish Rover.
Some of those withering away are: Elizabeth of Harkness, Heave Scent, Protika, Prince of Denmark, Helen Traubel, Africa Star, Teenager, Western Sun, Toconis, Sun Fire and Protika.
All the areas along the road between Sectors 16 and 17 and Sectors 16.and 10 have been dismantled, while many beds in the second and third line have only wild grass covering them.
A Mali said that the plants had dried up owing to official neglect. While no one had cared to tend the roses during the last few years, watering of the plants had been occasional in the view of the depletion in the water level of the garden’s tube well, he said.
A senior official of the department, however, said that the funds granted for maintenance of the garden were inadequate as they had to meet the expenditure on repair of pavements and fountains etc from what he termed to be the “paltry” amount of Rs 50,000. Moreover, he contended, the administration had not supplied new plants for one reason or the other during the past one decade.”He said that new rose beds were being made in the garden. However, these would have plants of the existing varieties only.
Secretary of forests and horticulture department Rakesh Singh and principal chief conservator of forests Chhatar Singh were not available for comments.
Article extracted from this publication >> December 10, 1993
