Botanical Garden And Nature Park
Situated in the foothills of Shivalik, Chandigarh is a beautiful city and the climate of the city is such which can accommodate several types of flora which come from different climatic regions. To preserve the exotic species who are about to get extinct and important flora of the region, Chandigarh is one of the best location and so, a Botanical Garden will serve the purpose. Near the village Sarangpur, Botanical Garden was established by the Chandigarh Administration which was spread over 176 acres.
It was on the 30th of May 2002 that the foundation stone of the botanical gardens was laid by Retired Lt. General JFR Jacob who was the administrator of Chandigarh at that time. Connected with the forest, Patiala-ki-Rao, which is a nature reserve, which spreads over 350 acres, this garden is one of the biggest one in the region. The rose garden was made under the guidance of Retired Gen. Dr. S. F. Rodrigues who was the Punjab’s governor at that time. He was a nature lover and handled the whole project on his own. It was on the 2nd of January 2007 that the botanical garden was inaugurated by him and made it the biggest one in the region after its completion.
There are fifteen botanical sections in the garden and it was set up for the sole reason to promote the research and development about the floral heritage. The aim of education and spreading awareness along with increasing the eco tourism, Botanical gardens were made in Chandigarh.
Medicinal Plants Garden
There are a lot of medicinal plants and herbs which have been developed in around forty acres of the land. One can find over seventy five species of the medicinal trees and over fifty five species of the medicinal shrubs in the garden. Species like Bahera, Neem, Bael, Sandalwood, Amla, Harar and Arjun are found in the garden along with Kathal, Maulsari, Kachnar, Camphor, Rudraksha, Jamun, Lasura, Gular, Putranjeeva, Sita Ashok, Lasura etc. You can find other species which are the medicinal herbs, like Kalmegh, Bhringraj, Vacha, Mehndi, Ashwagandha, Akarkara and the list goes on.
For list of Trees and Shrubs in Garden, refer to the link given below:
http://chandigarh.gov.in/green_botanical.htm
Cactus and Succulent Section
There are around one hundred varieties of Cactus and other succulent plans which have been collected from very different sources so that the section of cactus can be developed. The aesthetic value of the garden is improved by a water channel added on to it. There have been developments in the poly house, glass house and the poly carbohydrate house
Aquatic Plants Section
This section will have more than 30 aquatic plant species.
Rare Plants Section
There is a section for the plants which are rare and the botanical garden has given three acres for this section only. Different and rare plants from India as well as abroad have been bought for this section.
Tropical Rain Forest Section
There are a lot of trees which are of the rain forest region are also there in the botanical garden which have been set up to make it look more appealing.
Bulbous Garden
Covered over two acres of land, this section is dedicated to the Bulbous Garden and the authorities are making sure there will a lot of bulbous plans.
Japanese Garden
This section dedicated to the Japanese Garden will be having Japanese plans, as the name says and will be constructed under five acres of land.
Nutrition Garden
The fruits which are suitable for the temperate, sub tropical and tropical regions can be found in this section which has over fifteen species of fruits and will add a few more in the near future.
Salient Features
Office-cum-Nature Interpretation Centre
The Office building which is near the Gate 1 is constructed keeping in mind that it will be a Nature Interpretation Center. The floras which have been developed will be displayed for the public so that they get information about the medicinal plants, environment, forest and wildlife. To educate the students, NGOs and the farmers, a conference hall is used which can accommodate up to one hundred people at a time. The conference hall also hosts different workshops along with environmental education programs.
One can also find several books on the medicinal plants, wildlife, forestry, environment etc in the library which is there and the visitors and the tourist can access the library for free.
Roads and Pathways
You have to cross a cycle way of around five kilometers if you want to go round the garden. The visitors can also rent cycles on decent rates for this purpose. To have a close access to the different sections of the garden, a pathway of around six kilometers has been made which crosses the length and breadth of the garden.
Lake
There are two lakes which have been developed by the authorities. The first one covers the Patiala ki Rao which covers fifteen acres of land and the other one is in the botanical garden which covers eight acres of land. The purpose to design these lakes was to harvest the rain water as these water bodies also act as percolation tanks. There are several boats which have been provided to carry forward the eco tourism.
Water Bodies
Apart from the two lakes which are present in the botanical gardens, there are five other water bodies too developed inside the garden. This has been done to make sure the water which is underground is recharged time to time.
Meditation Huts-cum-Rain Shelters
There are two meditation huts in the Botanical gardens and the authorities are planning to set up four more huts soon.
Nursery-cum-Research Block
There is an exclusive nursery in the botanical garden which has been developed in two acres of land which has a pony house along with a green shade net house too. For the promotion of the medicinal plants and herbs, the saplings of these medical plants are being distributed to the organizations as well as individuals. There is a research block too in the gardens which is spread over one and a half acres of land.
Public Utility Services
The cycle tracks and the pathways have the provision of water and toilets for public use.
Cafeteria
The garden authorities are planning to build a cafeteria around the lake area of the garden and for that, they have kept aside around an acre of land.
Nature Reserve/ Nature Park
Patiala-ki-Rao is the natural reserve which connects to the botanical garden through a causeway of around three kilometers. There is a lake which spreads over fifteen acres of land is developed in its forest which is meant for the wildlife in the forest and for the eco-tourism as well.
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