The site of the proposed park in Siliguri. (Kundan Yolmo)

Siliguri, May 5: The Siliguri Horticultural Society will set up a park to acquaint students and residents of the area with different types of plants which are either confined to textbooks or seen on television.

The horticulture park will come up on a plot of seven bighas along the tracks of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway at Dagapur on the outskirts of Siliguri about 2km from Darjeeling More.

The Northeast Frontier Railway has gifted the land adjacent to NH55, said Nantu Pal, the president of the Society.

The Society will spend around Rs 10 lakh for setting up the park and for growing of saplings. “We are trying to develop it as a research centre for various botanical species,” Pal said. Students from different educational institutions would be able to carry out field studies once the park is completed, he added.

“The main objective behind setting up the park is to attract schoolchildren so that they become aware of the plants found in the region,” said Avaypado Das, a vice president of the Society who is also a professor in the botany department of North Bengal University.

“Most of us, including students, have heard or used coffee or camphor (korpur). But very few people have seen the plants, or how they grow,” Das said. “Our aim is to bridge this gap through a park, which will showcase these plants and different types of orchids as well. We expect work to begin within the next three months.”

The Society is also planning to convert the park into a tourist spot.

“During vacations, thousands of tourists visit Siliguri on way to the hills. They are often attracted to the rich variety of orchids and want to buy them for their personal collection,” Pal said. “We will try to woo this section of tourists here.”