Bengaluru: People highlight Lalbagh's problems

Lalbagh botanical garden. Credit: Prajavani Photo

Lalbagh botanical garden. Credit: Prajavani Photo

Visitors to Lalbagh highlighted many concerns in a survey conducted by Deccan Herald and Prajavani in mid-November.

Lalbagh, classified officially as a botanical garden, is one of the few remaining lung spaces in Bengaluru. The survey, intended to collect public opinion on the status of the park, resulted in citizens suggesting many steps to improve the garden. The respondents included walkers, nature lovers and bird watchers.

‘Make it plastic-free’

Many walkers, especially senior citizens, complained that some walkways were uneven and had no interlocking tiles. Those with knee problems and joint pain said they found such stretches inconvenient for their walks. The walkways, they said, get more unsteady when it rains. Unpaved paths on the lake bund turn slushy after rains and add to walkers' misery, they said.

During the weekends, footfalls increase. Many visitors throw plastic waste around, and that is a concern to the authorities as also to the environmentally conscious. Some respondents said there was no place where they could get clean drinking water. They requested that the authorities arrange for drinking water. Water tanks should be cleaned regularly, respondents said.

Some said they were apprehensive about entering toilets that lacked maintenance and cleaning. They wanted Western-style toilets for senior citizens. The toilets should be opened and cleaned regularly, they urged.

Manja menace

Anupama, a regular birdwatcher in Lalbagh, told DH said Chinese manja (sharp thread used for kite flying, and to cut rivals’ kites) had become a menace and birds caught in them were dying regularly.

“These need to be cleared and awareness created outside Lalbagh, where people fly kites,” she said. Anupama says she has seen many birds dying because of this.,

J C Gupta, another regular walker from Mavalli, says he saw a bird hanging from a tree, struggling to escape as if stuck in manja.

“I did not know whom to call, but called the fire force anyway. I don’t know if they saved the bird. In such situations, helpline numbers will be useful,” he said. He added that there was no mechanism right now to clear them from time to time.

When DH visited Lalbagh on Wednesday (November 30), the park did not have too many people around, and looked clean. Hawkers weren’t too many. An excavator was busy filling soil into the waterlogged area near the bandstand. Workers were busy digging 12-ft pits and filling them with cement rings and gravel, which they said were rainwater harvesting pits. A group of schoolchildren was playing. There were no guides around to help the curious and to tell them the significance of the plants and trees they were looking at inside the iconic garden.

Gupta said during the Lalbagh flower show, trees are used to pin posters, and the authorities should keep an eye out and avoid doing that.

People’s tips for improvement

• Ban feeding the birds because stray dogs compete to eat them and scare people in the process.
• Fix the broken benches.
• Make first-aid kits readily available.
• Write helpline numbers in the signage warning of snakes, and rescue helplines for birds in trouble.
• Reserve a separate place for yoga, and ban people from practising it on roads.
• Ban people from playing inside the garden, and seize bats, balls and other sports/game equipment at the gates.
• Provide bicycle parking.
• Divert polluted water entering the lake.
• Resolve the parking problem at the west and main entrances.
• Ban selling food items and other things in the parking area.
• Develop a Lalbagh app for the convenience of tourists.
• Install signage and location maps.
• Construct shelters for visitors to stand when it rains.
• Have a separate play area for children.
• Manage waste responsibly.
• Construct separate running and jogging tracks along the lake.
• Develop the area around the rocky hill into a park.
• Install CCTV cameras and increase security.

What is Janaspandana?

It is an initiative by Deccan Herald and Prajavani to connect people with officials and policymakers to evolve solutions to problems faced by the public.

In November 2018, a Janaspandana event was hosted in Lalbagh. Some improvements came in its wake. Government vehicles stopped entering the park. Garbage management, lighting, safety and hygiene had improved to an extent.

When we sought to conduct another such Janaspandana event, the horticulture department denied permission, stating that no private organisation would be allowed to do anything inside Lalbagh.

‘Money not a problem’

Officials of the horticulture department said they would address the concerns of the respondents.

“The walking path at Lalbagh was built 20 years ago. We will take steps to repair it in the coming days,’’ said a senior official who preferred not to be named for this story.

As for the stray dogs in the park, the official said they had gone up in number during the pandemic, when many of their owners went back to their native towns.

“According to a Supreme Court directive, dogs are not allowed to be shifted elsewhere. Therefore, 80% of dogs are neutered, and all dogs coming here are vaccinated. There have been no dog bite cases so far,” said the official.

On the question of laying longer-lasting roads to avoid slush, the official said, “We can’t tar every road here. Walkers have to understand that this is a botanical garden."

The park has an adequate budget for maintenance. Due to the continuous rain, the low-lying area near the bandstand is filled with sewage, and experts from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have provided a plan for a drain and a reservoir, the official said.

“We are trying to get funds for this project. The horticulture minister is also trying to get money under the Smart City project,” said the official.

Some respondents had sought brighter lighting in parts of the park. “We will not be placing lights on the lake bund. If we have bright lights, the birds won’t come. We want to see the flora, fauna and biodiversity thrive by leaving the vegetation untouched,” the official said, adding that the garden would soon have a Western Ghats-style natural forest in some parts.

“We have put signage warning walkers not to go near breeding places of birds because there will also be snakes there. Why should walkers go to such places when there are other safe areas?” said the official.

The official added that people who complain of poor maintenance should try maintaining one acre of land and see how difficult it is. “Record rains have caused water logging inside Lalbagh. Who is to blame for it when the entire city has suffered?” said the official.

DH could not reach Horticulture Minister Munirathna and Horticulture Department Director Nagendra Prasad and Joint Director of Horticulture Department M Jagadish for comments on the department’s plans for Lalbagh.