Nov 28, 2013 03:07 PM
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(Updated Nov 28, 2013 11:35 PM)
Whatever be wrong with the state of Uttar Pradesh, however corrupt and crime-laden the state maybe, the horticulture departments in the various cities here impress me. I have not travelled to too many cities but I have been across Ghaziabad, Noida, Meerut and Moradabad and the residential areas are all beautiful with ample greenery everywhere. Compared to all other states, I have seen the Uttar Pradesh horticulture department ensures to plant trees along the sidewalks and dividers wherever new roads are constructed. In addition you get to see a lot of green belts and parks with ample amount of trees.
I was walking to a shopping mall with a friend when we noticed the often-spotted-but-ignored Udhyan Anubhag complex in Indirapuram, Ghaziabad. This horticulture complex is located right next to the Mother Diary booth. Something struck us to go in and have a look and the experience was fabulous. The complex had a huge variety of plants and trees. We didn’t find any hi-tech watering setup or greenhouses but yet there were indeed a lot of plants. One can visit this place and also purchase all kinds of indoor plants, vegetable saplings, flowering plants, decorative plants and there was also a nice lotus pond.
The caretaker is an old man and he was very helpful. He explained about the various plant varieties and took us through a tour of the whole complex. Although one may say his courteousness was with the hope that we buy some of those plants, he wasn’t being pushy in trying to make us buy any plant. I am not sure if the sales made from the nursery are tracked or accounted. Perhaps the people in charge pocket the profit derived from doing retail sales of the plants.
The moment a person considers buying plants; one would visit a nearby private nursery. The setback with private nurseries is that they keep a very small variety and they become pushy trying to persuade you into buying their plants even though the ones they stock might not be what you are looking for. Plants such as Tulsi or other medicinal plants are seldom kept at private nurseries. But I was surprised to find so many medicinal plants as well as vegetables and citrus fruit plants being cultivated here.
Occasionally some elderly people simply visit the nursery to take a walk but the complex is mostly empty and is open only from 9 am till 6 pm. For someone who likes botany a visit to this place can give a treasure of knowledge about various plants. An elderly man who was at the place just to take a walk himself knew a lot about plants and he explained about the medicinal values of so many of them. If you are looking for ultra-high maintenance type expensive plants you won’t find them here because there aren’t enough people to care for them. But yet, the variety here is indeed massive.
To conclude, if you wish to procure stuffs for a five star hotel type decoration in the house, you won’t find those types of plants here. There may be some expensive and exquisite plants but they aren’t really that excellently maintained here. However, one this is for sure that the plants cost barely one-fifth of what you find in a private nursery. Often one gets to see ‘maalis’ who simply pick up plants from this nursery and take them on carts to housing colonies and sell them at five times the price. Some of the plants that my friend had bought at about 300 Rs after bargaining were available here at a paltry 60 Rs. There are a few varieties of Bonsai but again like I said you won’t get the five star standards if that is what you are looking for because this place is not established for a profit-making purpose. For someone who is an avid lover of plants and one who is confident of cultivating a veranda or a lawn garden, this place is a treasure trove.
