Jammu, 22 August (H.S.): Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah inaugurated a 'Waste to Wonder' flower garden near Polo View in Srinagar, highlighting the need to repurpose discarded items and preserve green spaces amid rapid urban expansion.

Speaking at the inauguration, the chief minister said the initiative demonstrates how waste materials can be creatively reused to enhance public spaces.

If you walk around and look here, you will see very peculiar items which you could not have imagined would be used in a park; somewhere a tractor, a scooter, an old Jeep, an Ambassador car, and even an old refrigerator has been used where plants have been grown inside it to decorate it, Abdullah said.

He said the core message from the Department of Floriculture to the public is to think twice before discarding household items. “Because these days, as we have all seen, solid waste management and the disposal of plastic waste have become very major issues in our cities as well as in rural areas,” he said.

Abdullah suggested that officials from the Floriculture Department visit Chandigarh to study the famous Rock Garden made from waste. “If we can recreate that here to some extent, I believe that too will be a major attraction for tourism,” he added.

Addressing concerns over Kashmir’s shrinking green spaces due to urban development, Abdullah said that population growth places immense pressure on land resources.

“Everyone wants to build their own house; everyone wants to progress. After progressing, people want to expand the plot their house is built on. Our effort is to balance both things,” he said.

“We cannot tell people not to build houses, but we certainly tell them to use as little land as possible. Because once land is lost, we cannot bring it back. We can generate more electricity, produce water, and do many things, but once land is gone, it is gone; we cannot bring it back,” the chief minister cautioned, stressing that development must take place alongside the preservation of green spaces.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Krishan Kumar