The 10-day Independence Day flower show at Lalbagh came to a close on Sunday, helping the Horticulture Department laugh all the way to the bank.

Horticulture officials were beaming as the flower show helped them net Rs 1.79 crore through entry tickets. About one lakh people visited Lalbagh on the last day of the 200th edition of the flower show.

Speaking to Deccan Herald, H Kodandaramaiah, vice president of Mysore Horticultural Society (MHS), which jointly organised the event with the department, said, “We had around 4 lakh to 5 lakh visitors from August 8 to August 17. Last year, we earned Rs 1.46 crore and this time we have made Rs 1.79 crore, which is slightly better.

We are planning to contribute one third of the earnings to Suvarna Trust that works for the improvement of Lalbagh.” According to sources, the horticulture department and the MHS spent about Rs 1.4 crore on the Independence Day flower show.

Visitors disappointed

Meanwhile, scores of people who visited the flower show on Sunday had to go home disappointed. For, the major attraction of the show, floral replica of Mysore Palace, did not enthuse them as the flowers adorning the structure had withered.

Dr K Ramakrishnappa, director of Horticulture department, said that their staff had started arranging the flowers on August 4 itself. Hence, it was inevitable that the flowers withered. “We had changed the flowers on August 10 and 11. Around 3.5 lakh flowers were used for the replica of the Mysore Palace and we spent Rs 37 lakh for creating it,”  he said.

Visitors to the flower show faced a harrowing time on Sunday due to the traffic jams in the roads leading to the garden, both in the morning and evening.

One of the traffic police officers said that since it was the last day, more number of people visited Lalbagh, leading to chaos. The vehicles were parked on KH Road that leads to Lalbagh.