Renovated botanical garden likely to be thrown open to public soon

The renovated Botanical Garden is likely to be thrown open to public later this month with the Agriculture department and Puducherry Smart City Development Limited ( PSCDL ) attending to last minute sprucing up work. 

Agriculture Minister C. Djeacoumar, last week, had visited the garden to review the progress of works before making an announcement on its inauguration this month. 

The garden, which is the green lung of the city, was closed for public in 2024 for PSCDL to take up the works, including setting up of a dancing musical fountain, providing four battery operated cars, landscaping, sprucing up of the garden, construction of an amphitheatre, jogging track, pathways, reconstruction of ticket counter, improvement of fountains and provision for a new battery-operated joy train at a cost of ₹9.11 crore. 

“The Minister during his visit to the garden has directed PSCDL to repair the old structures, including the boundary wall. We are in the process of completing those works. The facility will be ready for public use by later this month,” the official said. 

Measures were being taken to recruit 25 to 30 people to take care of the daily upkeep of the garden, located on an expanse of around 22 acres of land. There was also a proposal to involve the Pondicherry Tourism Development Corporation for running a cafe on the lines of Le Cafe on the Beach Road. There would be regulations imposed on taking plastic items, including water bottles inside the premises, for better management of the garden, the official said.

While adults would have to pay an entry fee of ₹10, students would get a 50% concession. Foreigners would be charged ₹50 per person. Additional charges would have to be paid for using the joy train and musical dancing fountain, the official said.

The department aims to generate more revenue as the renovated facility could attract more people for photo-shoots and videography. As per a notification issued in 2020, the premises could be rented out for commercial film shooting by collecting a fee of ₹5,000 per day or charge ₹3,500 per day for shooting short film and television advertisement. Visitors could pay ₹1000 per day for video/photo-shoots related to birthday and wedding events, the official said.

“After the renovation, the garden sports a new look which could prompt more people to use the premises for video and film shooting. We expect good revenue from such activities,” the official said. 

The garden was established in 1826 by the French botanist George Samuel Perrottet on an experimental basis to preserve the unique vegetation of the region. The garden has a collection of over 2,400 trees, 213 genus types and 293 species. The garden is the venue for the annual flower show in Puducherry.