Walkers seek eatery in Lalbagh

Regular walkers at Lalbagh vividly remember the restaurant that once stood in the middle of the garden. They recall that it was a point where they would regularly meet, chat and exchange a lot of information and ideas.

While some say that they would like the restaurant to return, others feel that the idea of a having a restaurant inside the premier lung space would flood the park with a lot of litter and in turn increase the stray dog menace.

Retired educationalist Shankarappa says that he has been regularly visiting Lalbagh for the last 30 years. “I remember going to the restaurant for breakfast. The steaming ‘idlis’ and crisp vada was a favourite with the walkers. They also had great coffee. They shut down because they incurred huge losses,” he says, adding that it would have been nice had a similar kind of coffee shop been set up.

Many who live in the vicinity of Lalbagh like Dr N Chandrashekar, an Ayurvedic doctor, says that he has been visiting the park for the last 30 odd years. “They weren’t many walkers those days and the few of us who came here regularly knew each other very well. The hotel provided a perfect spot for us to bond over coffee and some short eats. It served good, clean vegetarian food,” recalls Chandrashekar.

Sixty-six-year-old Abdul Suban and B P Ramanna, also in his early sixties, both retired government officials, remember that a cup of coffee would cost only Rs 5. “We often talk amongst ourselves that it would have been good had there been a coffee shop inside Lalbagh. We miss having that steaming cup of coffee in the middle of our walk,” they say.

There are others like Latha Shivakumar, a housewife, who doesn’t support the idea of having a coffee shop inside the park. “I have never been to the coffee shop myself but I don’t think it is a good idea because that would mean more people and more litter as well. We don’t want to distort the peace and ambience of this place,” says Latha.

Seconding Latha’s views is Industrialist Ramanna, a regular walker in Lalbagh, for the last 30 years.

He says, “We see a lot of tourists who carry food articles with them. They throw the used paper around which attracts stray dogs.” Ramanna also points out that the drinking water facilities inside Lalbagh are unreliable. “There are plenty of drinking water points but one can’t really trust on the purity of water. We would rather buy bottled water,” says Ramanna.

Hall was urgent

Asked about why the restaurant was converted for other purposes, Dr M Jagadeesh, joint director of Horticulture, Parks and Gardens, says, “We have converted the building that once housed the restaurant into a Horticulture Information Centre and conference hall. The change was important because we urgently required a conference hall.” When asked if they plan to start a restaurant or a food court inside Lalbagh, Jagadeesh, says “We don’t have any such plans. A hopcom store inside Lalbagh offers fruit juices, fruits etc.”

Dirty drinking water points

There are several drinking water points inside Lalbagh, but they are dirty and ill-maintained. Leaking taps and broken pipes are what greet people. When this was brought to the notice of the officials with the Horticulture Department, Jagadeesh, says “We have outsourced the contract for maintenance of the drinking water facility. They would have neglected their job. I will have that fixed immediately.”