Flower show registers 2.25 lakh footfall on I-Day

As many as 5.75 lakh people visited the 12-day Independence Day flower show at Lalbagh Botanical Garden.

According to Horticulture department, on August 15 alone, the flower show recorded a footfall of 2.25 lakh compared to 1.60 lakh last year. “On the last day, there was a huge rush. There were traffic snarls. When crowd started to swell there were chances of stampede forcing us to let nearly 40% visitors without tickets,” said M R Chandrashekar, deputy director, Horticulture, Lalbagh Botanical Garden.

 Chandrashekar, also the secretary of Mysore Horticultural Society, said, “We collected and cleared around four tonnes of garbage. On August 15 alone, three tonnes of trash was collected. This includes organic, plastic and other waste. We have penalised the stall owners for violating the ‘No Plastic’ norm. There were a total of 100 stalls set up at the flower show, this time,”

 The Horticulture department has tied up with various NGOs to clear the garbage. On Wednesday, children from Parikrma Foundation joined hands with Horticulture department to clear the plastic waste at the city’s biggest lung space. Another senior official pointed out that the scene is the same every year. “People are told not to carry plastic. But they bring them in their bags. It is not possible for the staff to check every bag. People carry packed food and throw the waste everywhere. Sanitary waste, pet and glass bottles have also been dumped indiscriminately,” the official said.