The City Beautiful has got another tourist attraction. A theme based garden —Garden of Palms — was opened for the general public on Thursday.
To provide recreational facilities to the general public in the southern part of City Beautiful, the UT Administration has developed the Garden of Palms in Sector 42 here.
The proposal to construct this Garden was mooted nearly five years back and after several years of delay, the Garden was finally completed this month.
The Palm Garden has been developed in an area of 19.50 acres consisting of artificial lake on one side of N-Choe passing through Sector 42 and other infrastructure on other side. The Garden was proposed by reclaiming the idle and uneven land along the N-Choe.
The development of Garden of Palms was proposed with joint funding from Union Ministry of Tourism and UT Administration with total cost of the project at nearly Rs6 crore. The Ministry sanctioned the budget grant of Rs268 lakh and the balance Rs284 lakh was borne by the UT Administration. About 30 varieties of Palms have been planted in the Garden with the cost of Rs9 lakh.
Two artistic foot bridges have been completed over the N-Choe to provide connectivity between lake and Palm Garden at a cost of Rs46 lakh. The Garden also has four artificial palms made of steel on each bridge.
Besides, cycle tracks have been constructed on lake side to provide cycling facility. Grassy earth mounds have been made to add adventure to the cycling pleasure. And, the parking area constructed for the Garden can accommodate more than 100 cars.
KK Sharma, Adviser to UT Administrator inaugurated the Garden on Thursday. After the inauguration, he said, “large number of residents from the surrounding areas of Chandigarh and Mohali will be benefited with the opening of this garden. The Garden will soon become a hot-spot for tourist.”
The work of stone pitching of existing natural choe was completed with Rs63 lakh to confine the flow of natural rain water and to protect the infrastructure of Palm Garden. The reclamation of land nearly 1.5 acre was also achieved due to pitching work.
An official of the Tourism Department informed that the State of art Tourist Reception Centre consisting of single storey RCC frame structure having provision for information centre, canteen, kitchen, passage and toilets has been completed with the cost of Rs173 lakh.
The wide concrete pathway having 2,000 running foot length with 6 platforms finished with Dholpur and Red Sand Stone with stone cladding has been completed with the cost of Rs50 lakh. The construction of garden shelters and sitting benches with thatch roofing and bamboo ply cladding cost Rs10.75 lakh, he added.
Earlier, a tourist attraction—the Valley of Animals in Sector 49 here was opened for residents of southern sectors. The Valley showcases mass display of various animal species topiaries on the slopes and undulations, co-existing in family form or in action. The shape of animals is created with plants of different hues and textures so as to make it a colorful and curious display.
The Valley of Animals was conceptualised in topiary form and is unique and different from other parks where all-green similar types of animal specimen are kept at a distance from one another.