Lalbagh pulls off a neat feat after 10-day flower show

With the record-breaking footfall, the just-concluded flower show at Lalbagh also saw a turnaround in waste generation and disposal.

Authorities had taken several measures to ensure proper garbage management as Bengaluru’s premier lung space hosted the Independence Day flower show from August 9 to 18.

Volunteer group Beautiful Bengaluru and waste management organisation Saahas helped control waste generation during the show. Visitors were educated about garbage disposal though messages on LED screens, placards and audio recordings in Kannada, English and Hindi.

Volunteers and BBMP workers ensured that garbage was regularly sorted and cleared. Vendors were instructed to not give plastic bags and charge customers for cloth bags.

“Strict security checks led to the seizure of more than 25,000 single-use plastic water bottles. Our volunteers checked littering in peak zones and installed an extra 30 pairs of green and blue garbage bins. We ensured waste was fully segregated at source,” said Rajalakshmi G, project coordinator at Saahas.

While three tonnes of dry waste was recycled out of the five tonnes of mixed waste last year, the latest flower show yielded an equal amount of segregated dry waste.

“There was minimal single-use plastic this time. Even the staff were served food in rented steel cutlery instead of plastic and areca-leaf plates,” said Sonia Sharma, a Beautiful Bengaluru volunteer.

M R Chandrashekhar, Deputy Director, Lalbagh, said awareness about plastic among vendors and visitors helped total waste segregation.