The visitors complain that the garden no longer has the beauty it once had. "I have read a lot about it in newspapers but now I am disappointed," said a college student.

Originated in 1909, the garden is the brainchild of Narendra Narayan Rai Chowdhury, the landlord of Balda Estate that included parts of northern Dhaka. After the landlord's death in 1936, the garden was owned by a trust headed by his grandchildren and ultimately taken over by the government in 1962. Now it is a satellite unit of the National Botanical Garden.

Spread over 3.38 acres of land and with over 18,000 trees, the garden has two parts -- Psyche and Cybele. Psyche is a collection of plants from over 50 countries where the landlord had travelled. Cybele comprises the propagated species of the plants in Psyche.

Cybele is open to all visitors whereas visitors to Psyche require permission from the authorities at the Botanical Garden in Mirpur. Visiting hours are from 9:00am to 5:00pm on every weekday except Fridays and Saturdays.

"He (Narendra) named it Psyche partly because of his spiritual connection with nature and partly because the word implies immortality in Greek mythology. Concisely, he wanted to be remembered after his death through his creation," said an official at the garden, on condition of anonymity.

Two legends appear at the entrance to Cybele but there are no individual labels at the 11 sites in Cybele and 16 sites in Psyche. "There were labels but a high official ordered to remove them as they would damage the plants. Labelling them again would require a big budget which the government does not provide," said the official.

He also said most of the visitors don't come to see labels.

On a visit to the garden this correspondent found a reddish and worn out metallic structure that seemed to be a toy but turned out to be a sundial. It is impossible to distinguish between two greenhouses -- 'Fern House' and 'Camellia House' -- in the garden.

There is a sign stating that tearing flowers is prohibited but yet there are no flowers in sight. Some of the decayed leaves are used for producing compost while the rest are thrown into dustbins. Some of the plants were pest-eaten while the others stained with bird excreta.

What seemed to be a water-lily tank has few water lilies that are scarcely in sight unless one looks at the farther corners. The water is greenish because of algae and duckweed.

In addition to the litter around the garden, there are also some polythene packets, pieces of newspapers in some of the tanks. A worn-out dustbin hardly catches the attention of the visitors who tend to litter around the places where they sit.

The boundary walls are filled with graffiti.

When asked about the dirty condition, a source said the garden has only one sweeper in addition to eight gardeners. There is a single botanist who sits at the Botanical Garden at Mirpur and he rarely has the time to visit the Balda Garden.

There was a laboratory for research on tissue culture but its funding had been stopped long ago, said sources. There are no facilities for genetic engineering.

Many of the plants, like rose, have their branches cut off during certain periods in a year in order to stimulate the growth of new branches.

Most of the soil has no grass with the exception of a tomb of the landlord that has bamboo partitions. Psyche had more grass in contrast to Cybele. "There are more visitors to Cybele who step on the grass," explained the official.

He also said most of the trees that were planted by the landlord have adjusted to the soil which cannot be replaced with better soil. The fertilisers used are both chemical ones like urea, TSP and bio ones like dung.

When a single tree expires, it is replaced with a new sapling. Some plants of foreign species like orchid and cactus are bought form private nurseries. These have to be kept in greenhouses or pots as they are not adjusted to the local climate and soil.

"We do not have much space to introduce new types of trees. Moreover, we also try to preserve the trees planted by the landlord," said the official.

Asked about the scarcity of greenery in the garden, the source attributed it to the winter season. 'The garden is in full bloom between March-May."

But he agreed that the garden needs more care. "We have sent letters to the higher authorities at the National Botanical Garden asking them to appoint more employees at Balda Garden but no such initiative has yet been taken," he said.