B'lore disciplines lovers, denies them leafy cover

LOVERS' LAMENT: A Lal Bagh security man gives a young Bangalore couple a lesson on decency.

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Bangalore: Bangalore's oldest botanical garden, Lalbagh, is getting a trimming. The old bushes and trees are being pruned to ensure that young couples can't steal a kiss behind them, all thanks to complaints from regular joggers.

The 250-year-old Lalbagh in Bangalore is losing some of its original green cover to protect decency and decorum.

Joggers who have been regulars at the park for decades have complained about young couples getting cosy behind the bushes.

But now the horticulture department has decided to trim these bushes as well as their activities.

“Actually Lalbagh and Cubbon Park are ideal places for the couples to meet. We don't want to restrict them but some couples behave indecently. That is what we want to avoid,” says Deputy Director Horticulture department, Dr M Jagadeesh.

On an average 2,000 couples visit the park during holidays and there are only 20 security men to keep an eye on the 240 acres of parkland so bushes have to go.

“The garden benches that are in the interiors are shifted to open and bushes that had wide growth. We are reducing the bushes that spread more than 20 feet in radius,” adds Jagadeesh.

Officials say trimming bushes became necessary after they started receiving complaints from visiting families. However, not everyone is convinced.

“You can't debar people from being in love. But yes we can educate people on which are the spaces suitable for private needs,” says a Lalbagh visitor.

Some, on the other hand, welcome the Horticulture department’s idea.

“It's actually a disgusting scene to see people hug and sit down. Little children who see that also learn the same thing,” says another visitor of the park.

Bangalore has no beach, no drive-in theatre and no place where youngsters can spend time together but Lalbagh authorities have still decided that they're not going provide a cosy nook to a city full of youngsters who have no alternative.