Nurseries that bloom no more
By Jatinder Singh Bedi
THE prestigious government rose nursery at Sector 23-D in the city is facing extinction due to the apathy of the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh (MCC). With sales touching the nadir, the corporation suffers an annual loss of about Rs 4 lakh. The situation in the remaining nurseries too is hardly better.
Spread over 8 acres, the nursery now presents a dismal look. Once graced by a range of colourful roses, the lawns today are desolate. With the setting in of the rains,grass has grown wildly all over the area. The process of grafting new plants for sale is at a standstill. There are only seven to eight inexperienced workers, who are unable to handle even its upkeep. Surinder Pal, in charge of the rose nursery, says:“The production capacity has been adversely affected for want of manpower and material.” Since January 1997, sale proceeds are nil, he informs. This nursery has also been the primary feeder of rose plants to the Rose Garden.
The decline started ever since the MCC took over the blooming nursery from the UT Horticulture Department. The department used to station over 35 experienced workers permanently to look after this nursery. Over two lakh root stock plants were planted here and 1.25 lakh grafted rose plants were produced annually. The annual sale amounted to over Rs 4 lakh. This year hardly 70,000 stock plants were planted. No plants were developed during 1997.
A high official, not willing to be named, in the Horticulture Department of the MCC justifies the situation, saying: “Since the corporation has decided to lease out the nurseries at Sector 23-D and Sector 26, there is no point in investing much in them.
It needs to be emphasised that the nurseries were established to bring awareness among the common man about the environment and develop in him love for plants. They also aimed at providing ready plants to the resident population. The nurseries are situated on prime land and leasing them to private dealers will defeat the very aim with which they were established. It is alleged that the decision has been resented within the department.
The UT Horticulture Depart-ment is responsible for maintaining the Raj Bhavan, VIP residences, Dakshin Marg, outer Dakshin Marg, Madhya Marg, Sukhna Lake, Rose Garden, Leisure Valley, Bougainvillaea Garden, developing sectors etc. The MCC takes care of the remaining areas, including the sector parks.
There are four government nurseries in Chandigarh. Of these, the Sector 23-C nursery is with the UT Administration and is the only one prospering. The rest — the mixed fruit nursery at Sector 26, the fruit nursery at Sector 29 and the rose nursery at Sector 23-D — are the MCC’s responsibility. All seem to be in a state of neglect.
Though the condition of nurseries have deteriorated under MCC’s charge, there were difficulties while they were with the Chandigarh Administration too. In 1973, 688 varieties of rose were available for sale in the rose nursery. These included 370 hybrid teas, 195 floribundas, 45 rambling, 19 climbing, 16 polyantha pom-poms, 37 miniatures and six climbing miniatures. Besides carrying out the sale of ‘bush’ and ‘standard’ rose plants, the nursery also dealt in cut flowers, bouquets, garlands, rose-flower buttons, loose petals and wreaths.
It handed over the nursery to the MCC with just 150 varieties and with the practice of selling only ‘bush’ and ‘standard’ type of rose plants. Many varieties have perished since then. However, no census of the survivors has been done, admits Surinder Pal.
Dilbag Singh, Assistant Landscape Officer (I), also in charge of the Rose Garden, attributes it to the overworked horticulture staff and indifference of the UT Administration.
He says, “The magnitude of the workload is equivalent to that entrusted to the ‘forest circle’ of a Forest Department. But the administration, unlike in the case of other departments, has been refusing to upgrade its Horticulture Department to a ‘circle’. This has led to persistent manpower shortage and has adversely affected the progress in plantation, he explains.
The unproductive government nurseries have resulted in the mushrooming of private nurseries. Most of these are along the main roads leading to the city from Manimajra, Ambala and Mohali. None of these are registered with the UT Agriculture Department. Plus many of the plants put up for sale are not of a good quality.
The customers come to know this when the plants bloom. They then feel cheated. These nurseries charge exorbitant rates too. While the price of a bush rose plant at government nursery is Rs 12, it is priced in multiples at the private nurseries. The erstwhile decision of the administration to shift these to the earmarked locations is yet to see the light of day.
The rose nursery is no more in a position to supply the plants to the 27-acre Rose Garden. It currently has over 47,000 rose plants of 1,600 varieties. Many of these varieties are rare and not even available in India. A Rs 10-lakh sprinkler irrigation project approved for the Rose Garden awaits tenders. This is expected to affect the annual saving of Rs 10.8 lakh to the UT exchequer.
The Rose Garden is in consistent need of the plants due to a number of reasons. After continuous propagation mutation sets in, leading to changes in the characteristics of a variety. The varieties then have to be replanted. Also there are casualties due to old age, infections, exposure to virus etc.
With the rose nursery not feeding the Rose Garden any more, plants are being procured from distant cities. For example, 350 varieties were purchased from Bangalore in 1996. Plants are also procured from Calcutta, Saharanpur, Lucknow etc. A nursery has also been developed at the garden itself.
Bowing to public pressure, the Sector 23-C government nursery has made arrangements to develop roses itself. So far, plants other than roses are developed there. These include shady trees, shrubs, ornamentals, potted plants, creepers, cacti, etc. According to Baldev Singh, Assistant Landscape Officer (II), over 5000 rose plants are ready and the sale is expected to commence this season. He expects Rs 1- lakh enhancement in the nursery’s current annual income of Rs 9 lakh. It will also feed the Rose Garden in future.
Hardev Singh, Executive Engineer, Chandigarh Horticulture Department, who is revered by his department as “surrogate father of the Chandigarh trees” after Dr M.S. Randhawa, says: “Involvement of the government in the cause of horticulture has to be uppermost to preserve the unique status that Chandigarh has acquired due to its plantation.”
More important, he says, is the personal involvement and support from the senior officers who need to possess thorough knowledge of this subject. The administration, he adds, is not well versed with the problems that the department faces.