Lalbagh yet to be rid of garbage

The Horticulture Department has been unable to clear the piles up garbage at Lalbagh Botanical Garden even after the 11-day flower show ended.

The department, however, blamed the rain fury and citizens for the menace. “Since there was heavy rainfall, the staffers and hired employees have been unable to clear the garbage. It will take us at least another two to three days to clean Lalbagh,” said Chandrashekhar M R, deputy director, Lal Bagh.

He said that so far, only one truckload of garbage has been cleared from Lalbagh. There are piles of garbage which need to be cleared.

The horticulture department had deployed 55 staffers to clear the garbage.

They had also hired 35 additional helpers for the 11-day flower show. To clear the garbage of August 15 alone, 70 more helpers were hired. All these staffers were supposed to work till late on Wednesday night to clear the garbage menace. The department’s employees are also busy assessing the damage caused to the lawns, pots and plants all across the 240-acre lung space. “People have damaged the lawns and plants by walking over them. While the garbage will be cleared, it will take us longer to repair all the damage and restore them again,” Chandrashekhar said.

They assert that this is a problem after every flower
show. The department has never been able to manage the menace. “We come to Lalbagh for morning walks to keep healthy instead of walking on the city’s roads. But there seems to be no difference between the city’s piled up garbage and that of Lalbagh,” said K Kumar, a morning walker.

The walkers and visitors also pointed out that people are forced to hold their breath while passing by the garbage piles strewn on the lawns of Lalbagh.

Lalbagh metro footfall touches 40k The Lalbagh metro station on Wednesday witnessed a high footfall as 37,536 riders boarded the train, thanks to the flower show. To avoid long queues for tokens, the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) had introduced paper tickets. Officials said they sold 23,874 tickets, each costing Rs 30, but the rush in the evening forced them to open the manual gate meant for metro staffers. The flower show at Lalbagh increased the metro's total ridership, too, with BMRCL recording 3.95 lakh, which is unusual for holidays, except during long weekends when people travelling out of the city take the metro to reach the bus and railway stations.