Botanical Gardens nets over Rs 60 m in two months

by Dhaneshi YATAWARA

The National Botanical Gardens at Peradeniya recorded an income of over Rs. 60 million during the past two months.

According to the Director General of the Department of Botanical Gardens Dr. Siril Wijesundara, the number of foreign and local visitors had increased compared to the corresponding period in January and February last year.

The Gardens earned about Rs. 27 million from foreign tourists in January this year while Rs. 3.7 million was earned from local tourists. The Garden earned nearly Rs. 29 million from foreign tourists in February. Another Rs. 4 million was recorded in the same month from local visitors.

Compared to January last year, the earnings were over Rs. 11 million from foreign visitors and over Rs. 12 million from local visitors. “Even last year’s income was a huge increase compared to year 2009.

However, this year’s income is far better than anticipated,” Dr. Wijesundara said. “Infrastructure development activities are carried out continuously and the Department received an allocation of Rs. 40 million for development work,” he said.

The use of polythene was banned at Botanical Gardens since the beginning of this year and according to officials, the visitors had responded positively.