Gopeshwar (Uttarakhand), Jun 1 (PTI) The Valley of Flowers National Park, a world heritage site in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district, was opened for tourists on Monday.
Visitors can now tour the valley until the first fortnight of October.
Located near Badrinath, the Valley of Flowers was accorded national park status in 1982. Spanning 87 square kilometres, this national park is renowned worldwide for its vibrant flowers. The park was established to conserve the unique geographical formation, rich alpine meadows (bugyals) and diverse floral species.
Frank Smythe, a botanist and mountaineer, introduced this valley to the world after visiting it in the early twentieth century. He detailed the floral wealth of the region in his book, ‘The Valley of Flowers’.
To reach the valley, one has to travel from Govind Ghat on the Badrinath National Highway to Pulna by road. From there, visitors trek about 11 kilometres to Ghangharia, where they enter the Valley of Flowers.
Officials formally opened the gates for tourists on Monday morning. Visitors can enter the Valley of Flowers after obtaining a permit from Ghangharia.
The Valley of Flowers National Park is managed by the Nanda Devi National Park Division, which also oversees the Nanda Devi National Park.
Both parks constitute the core areas of the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve and are inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Abhimanyu said that over 108 tourists visited the Valley of Flowers on the opening day. PTI COR AKY PRK
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