BENGALURU: As demand to remove hawkers from Lalbagh and Cubbon Park grows loud, officials have said that every time they try to shift hawkers, running stalls in the 300 acres of Botanical Garden from the area, there has been political intervention, and added that they come back again after staying away for a few days.
Two days ago, some morning walkers spotted a 21-year-old vendor, a resident of Someshwaranagar, reportedly spitting in cooking oil. As other walkers learned about the incident, the Cubbon Park Walkers Association has now demanded that the sale of eatables inside the park should be banned as it might lead to hawkers thriving in the area.
“A representation will be handed over to higher officials to instruct the Deputy Director of both the Cubbon Park and Lalbagh to strictly follow the rules, and deploy more security personnel to stop hawkers from entering the park,” said S Umesh, president, of Cubbon Park Walkers Association.
One of the senior officials, on condition of anonymity, said, “There are some 12 to 15 hawkers in the Lalbagh area who are doing business for many years. Once, when some were asked to leave, about 5,000 members from a particular section protested alleging harassment by authorities. There is always political intervention.”
Every day, around a thousand visitors throng Lalbagh Botanical Gardens. With the government announcing to hold its Independence Day flower show, over 2 lakh people are expected to attend the event from August 6. Following complaints of hawker menace, there may be a crackdown on hawkers.