Sisodia throws open 31st Garden Tourism Festival

NEW DELHI: Aiming to spread awareness about the environment and turning Delhi into a "clean and green city," Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Friday urged Delhiites to plant trees to combat pollution, at the launch of the 31st Garden Tourism Festival at the Garden of Five Senses here.

The Festival serves as a platform for garden lovers to meet, interact and showcase the fruits of their labour.

The festival will remain open for public, from 11 am to 8 pm, till Sunday, with the Delhi Tourism department providing free shuttle service to and from Saket Metro Station.

Sisodia said the practice of gardening and planting trees plays a pivotal role in bettering the human-nature relationship, and appealed to resident welfare associations (RWAs) in the city to attend the three-day festival.

"Everybody is concerned about fighting pollution and cleaning the air. It can only be ensured by planting trees and growing gardens," he said.

Planting a sampling in the garden to mark the occasion, Sisodia further said, "There is a need for organising more garden festivals at a larger scale to set examples for developing a sustainable urbanised city."

The theme of this year's festival, which is organised annually during the spring, is 'Grow Garden: Save Delhi'.

Spread across 22 acres, the Garden of Five Senses houses more than 325 species of plants.

Some of the attractions at this year's festival are court of palm, court of cactii, herbal garden, tree museum, topiary garden, zen garden, aromatic garden and butterfly zone.

Major participants at the festival include the horticulture departments of New Delhi Municipal Council, East and South Delhi Municipal Corporation, Delhi Jal Board, Delhi Development Authority and Northern Railways among others.