Lalbagh’s clean-up heroes pick up waste after flower fiesta

Nearly 100 people who gathered to go on a plog run picked several NWPP bags, some 500 to 600 plastic bottles, plastic covers, ice-cream sticks, wrappers, and metal cans among other waste.

Many people gathered at Lalbagh Garden to collect and segregate the waste thrown around its premises during the flower show. In all, the show recorded a footfall of 8.26 lakh people, with at least 2.45 lakh visiting the gardens on Tuesday alone. Authorities reportedly worked until 3.30 am on Wednesday to collect plastic waste and bundle it in sacks for recycling.

On Wednesday morning, nearly 100 people who gathered to go on a plog run picked several non-woven polypropylene (NWPP) bags, at least 500 to 600 plastic bottles, plastic covers, ice-cream sticks, wrappers, and metal cans among other waste.

On Wednesday, this DH reporter found garbage overflowing from the bins or piled in a heap below them. This must be before they are stuffed into garbage disposal vans and transported. Although the roads leading to the Glass House were totally clean, peripheral routes and green spots had smaller piles of plastic.

It was a similar scene in front of the Vidhana Soudha. 

Plogman G Nagaraj, who holds regular plog drives in Lalbagh, said the cleaning efforts by the authorities and volunteers cannot be underestimated given the enormous volumes of waste generated during the flower show.

“Strict checking for banned items at the entry gates, especially plastic bottles and NWPP bags, is something we can work on,” he said. He said vendors should be held responsible for distributing NWPP bags against strict orders not to do so. By Wednesday afternoon, the garden appeared largely free of plastic waste. The same, however, could not be said about the road leading to the metro station outside the West Gate. Paper, plastic, and food wrappers were strewn around the road.

“From day 1 of the flower show, we deployed 50 volunteers from Sahaas and Beautiful Bengaluru to regularly clean the premises,” a senior Horticulture Department official told DH.

“We did not allow plastic bottles inside and sold water in reusable glass bottles. Staff were served food on 1,200 steel plates and glasses. These have reduced waste generation. “We also had a team of 100 workers to clean up the park daily for 12 days. Vendors were also roped in to clean up the place along with staff,” the official added. He said the micro-level cleaning will be completed in one or two days.