Come January 1, no outside food allowed in Lalbagh

Struggling to handle the mounting garbage pile, the Lalbagh Garden management said it will strictly enforce an existing rule banning food brought from outside.

The rule will come into effect from January 1. "Food both homemade and bought from restaurants- pollutes the garden's environment since people do not dispose the waste properly," Lalbagh Deputy Director M Chandrashekhar said, pointing to the increasing number of visitors to the garden this holiday season.

"The non-vegetarian food in particular lures a lot of stray dogs into the garden. We want to keep the garden clean," he added.

Failure to have an effective check on food contents brought into the garden is stressing out workers employed to clean up the place, Chandrashekhar said, revealing that the garden authorities have engaged three exclusive security personnel to check and confiscate food brought from outside.

For the upcoming Republic Day flower show that begins on January 19, the Deputy Director said an effort has been made to clean up the garden and keep it spotless.