5-day Ooty flower show begins

Udhagamandalam: Governor Banwarilal Purohit inaugurated the 123rd edition of the annual flower show at the government botanical garden in Ooty here on Friday.

The main attractions included Tulips and Calalillies imported from Europe, floral replica of the Parliament House made of 1.2 lakh coronation flowers, replica of a floral pot made of lilies and display of 30,000 flower pots of various varieties, among other things.

Flower beds spread across more than 22 hectares of the botanical garden a was a real treat to the nature lovers.

While inaugurating the five-day show, Banwarilal Purohit said, “People of the Nilgiris have been showing their love for nature by extending support to the show for the past one century.”

Pointing out that use of petroleum products and plastics have resulted in enormous damage to the nature, he said, “Recycling the used products for energy and other purposes would make the world a better place to live.”

Gagandeep Singh Bedi, commissioner, agriculture production, and principal secretary to the government, said the annual flower show in Ooty was relevant not only to the Nilgiris district but also to the whole country, given its heritage and grandeur. According to him, a sum of 3 crore was spent on developing infrastructure such as a permanent gallery, sanitary facility for the tourists and tissue culture lab in the garden in the past two years.

Earlier, district collector J Innocent Divya welcomed the gathering. The function was followed by tribal cultural programme.