Srinagar, Aug 20 : Chief Minister Omar Abdullah will inaugurate an eco-friendly flower garden at Srinagar’s Polo Ground on Friday, a unique initiative developed by the Floriculture Department using discarded material as planters and decorative features.
Spread over around 15-16 kanals, the garden has been developed under the Reduce, Reuse and Recycle (3R) concept of the Swachh Bharat Mission, with the aim of promoting sustainable waste management and giving a new life to items that would otherwise have been discarded.
Director Floriculture, Kashmir, Mathoora Masoom, said the garden had been developed largely using old material already lying unused in the department’s gardens and offices.
“Whatever material you are seeing here is our old material which was lying in our gardens and offices. We have reused it and used it as planters, decorated it and tried to make it attractive,” Masoom said.
The garden features a train made from fallen wood, while discarded timber, rubber tyres, old buckets, seed bins, trolleys and other waste material have been creatively converted into planters and decorative installations.
Masoom said the initiative was designed to demonstrate that discarded items could be put to a second use, helping reduce consumption and the generation of waste.
“The message is that we can put our items to second use, which will reduce our consumption of certain items. This is the concept of the Swachh Bharat Mission — Reduce, Reuse and Recycle,” she said.
Apart from recycling waste, the department has expanded the garden’s plant portfolio by introducing a variety of plants, seedlings and bushes to ensure that the space retains its colour and appeal across seasons.
The entire project was executed by the department’s gardeners and staff without engaging outside technical experts or professional agencies.
“All the work has been done by our gardeners. We have not taken any technical staff from anywhere, nor have we hired any professional,” Masoom said.
She credited the teamwork and creativity of the department’s officials and gardeners for turning the concept into reality, saying the staff contributed their own ideas and worked to translate them into installations on the ground.
Masoom appealed to visitors, particularly younger generations, to learn from the initiative and adopt similar practices in their homes.
“The public should adopt the lessons in this for our younger generations and, when they come here and visit, take care of these things. They should take the idea from here and adopt it at home,” she said.
She also urged visitors to respect the garden, avoid damaging its installations and plants, and follow proper garden etiquette.
The initiative seeks to combine public recreation with an environmental message by demonstrating how discarded material can be transformed into useful and aesthetically appealing features. (KNS)
