Let the morning walkers in Lalbagh Bangalore walk in peace

Marketing brochures and pamphlets have not spared even the morning walkers. Early in the morning, they are thrust with these collaterals. This does not profit the brand in anyway, as one cannot expect the walkers to read the material in the morning.

They simply toss these papers without giving them a second look. As a result, the parks have turned to a litter zone.

Many morning walkers have complained to the gatekeepers about the menace created by these pamphlet distributors, but nothing has been done so far.

“We have told them not to stand at the gate and distribute pamphlets. But they end up going from one gate to the other,” said Dr Rajagopal, a daily morning walker at Lalbagh. Some of the walkers say the distributors are children who jump the compound wall and give the hand-outs to people in the park. “These children have become a menace and we have told them that they must stop. They nod their heads, but they end up doing the same thing,” said Gopala Gowda, resident of Basavanagudi.

If this is not enough, there are hawkers who sell snacks and juice cartons to visitors. “Only the Hopcoms have permission to sell on the garden premises. But you can find children below 18 selling condiments to visitors,” said Krishnamurthy, another morning walker.

Hawkers have found clever ways to hide their condiments as they are not allowed to bring anything from outside to sell.

“I put everything into a bag, tie it, and throw it from the compound wall. Our friend will wait on the other side after buying a ticket and wait for our bag. We then buy the tickets and go in,” said Siddiqui, a hawker.

After buying the condiments, visitors also end up littering the garden, leaving empty packets of chips, wafers, juice and water on the lawn. “We end up cleaning the garden many times due to these hawkers. We chase them away most of the time but they are sly,” said a gardener at Lalbagh. Officials say they have strictly told the staff that such activities must be discouraged.

“I have told our staff that if such things are noticed, they must take action immediately,” said S Aswath, joint director of horticulture (parks, gardens and floriculture), department of horticulture.

The department had also come up with the idea of making a separate food court to curb such activity in 2009. But the plan is yet to take shape. “It is still in the design stage and we are planning to make one place in the park designated for food items to be sold, eaten and disposed of,” he said.