Tamil Nadu - Udhagamandalam   

Ooty Centenary Rose Park wins Garden of Excellence award

Special Correspondent

Plaque to mark international recognition arrives from World Federation of Rose Societies

RECOGNITION: The Nilgiris Collector, Santosh K.Misra, displaying the Garden of Excellence award in Udhagamandalam on Thursday. Looking on (from left) are the Assistant Director of Horticulture M.Murugan; the president, The Nilgiris Rose Society, K.Kr ishnakumar; and the Joint Director of Horticulture, R.Selvaraj. — Photo: D. Radhakrishnan

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Udhagamandalam: The arrival of the plaque that represents the Garden of Excellence award bagged by the Centenary Rose Park here was greeted with joy by the district administration and the Department of Horticulture on Thursday.

The World Federation of Rose Societies had given the award to the Centenary Rose Park during May 2006 at Osaka.

Celebrations

It was formally handed over to the Department of Horticulture that maintains the park, at the silver jubilee celebrations of the Indian Rose Federation held at Pune recently.

Mr.Selvaraj and the President, The Nilgiris Rose Society K.Krishnakumar, who received the plaque from the Vice President of the World Federation of Rose Societies (Asia-Pacific Zone) Mian Zafar Iqbal handed it over at the function, to the Nilgiris Collector Santosh K.Misra.

Displaying the plaque to media persons, Mr.Misra said that by gaining international recognition, the park had earned laurels for Tamil Nadu and also the entire country.

Along with the famed Nilgiri Mountain Railway that has been recognized as a World Heritage Site, the Park had now become a "must see" attraction for tourists coming to the hill station from all over the world.

He urged the horticulture department to display the plaque at a prominent place inside the park.

Since its reputation has now spread far and wide, the authorities concerned should ensure that the park was maintained properly round the year.

The infrastructure facilities should be commensurate with its image.

Varieties

Mr.Selvaraj said that the park now featured 3,000 varieties of roses.

During the current year, five hundred varieties would be added.

Mr.Krishnakumar said that the collection at the park was among the largest in the world.

Having come into being in 1995, thanks to the efforts of the then Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, the park has within a short period emerged as one of the most popular tourist spots in this hill station.

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