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This jewel among gardens stinks

There are five toilets at Lalbagh Botanical Garden, but none is maintained well.

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The state government may be planning to build a five-acre parking lot inside Lalbagh Botanical Garden for the annual flower show, but there are many other issues which have made this jewel among parks a very large cesspit.
The park has five toilets and yet none of them are well maintained. The stench arising from the toilets has forced many to avoid them, and instead use the fresh lawns for answering the nature’s calls.
Walkers say there are not enough toilets in the park for the number of visitors coming in daily. “Daily, on average, 12,000 visitors come to the garden. But there are only five urinals and this is not enough for that many people,” rues MR Doreswamy, chairman, PES Group who is also a regular walker at the garden.
A toilet is built at every gate and one is placed near the glass house. But of the five toilets, three have not been connected to the underground drainage (UGD) of the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB). “There is a natural slope for the toilets but they have not been connected to the UGD. They are left out into the open drain which smells bad. No one cleans it either,” he points out.
Besides, food items like bhelpuri, cucumber slices and pineapples are sold near some toilets. “This is very unhygienic and people also buy them. They are not moved away from these areas,” says Radhakrishna, a retired professor and a daily walker at the garden.
While hawkers feel that these spots are the best for brisk business, people also find it convenient. “We have many people coming here to freshen up. The customers want to sit nearby and rest and it makes a good place for us to sell our items,” contends Babu, a hawker.
“We have five toilets and it is sufficient. The walkers come only in the morning and they are old. Some of them are diabetic patients. We cannot have a toilet at every 10 metre distance. Besides, this is a botanical garden. It is meant for researchers and students to learn about plants and tree species. It is not meant for walkers and tourists. They need to respect this fact,” defends a garden official.
Admitting that toilets need to be connected to the UGD, HM Krishnappa, deputy director, Lalbagh Botanical Garden, says: “We have just got permission to connect the glass house toilets to the BWSSB pipeline. We’ll need three months.”

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