Cubbon Park spent ₹40 lakh to end its kissing menace
- Fed up with 'kissing' complaints, the department spent ₹40 lakh to build a 17-acre Kalyani and a walking track.
- The 17-acre area will also get a shade garden with varieties of creepers and tree saplings.
FollowWith an increase in complaints from the public and morning walkers about the public display of affection - like kissing and 'touching' in bushes - at Cubbon Park, the horticulture department spent a whopping ₹40 lakh to build a 17-acre Kalyani (water collection tank) and a walking track.
Mahantesh Murgod, Deputy Director, Cubbon Park said, "Apart from the public nuisance, water stagnation was a common sight in the area during the Monsoons. Walkers used to complain about the mosquito menace also. Now, we have developed a Kalyani in a 17-acre area that has a storage capacity of nine lakh litres. We have spent ₹75 lakh to develop this entire area and ₹40 lakh alone was spent on the Kalyani.”
He also added that they would approach the fisheries department to release fish in the Kalyani to prevent mosquito breeding.
"The 17-acre area will also get a shade garden with varieties of creepers and tree saplings. There will be a walking track in the area. This apart, the department will replace 350 sodium lights with LED lights," he added.
Nagraj, Police Inspector at Cubbon Park limits, also agreed about the nuisance and said earlier such incidents were high, but now with more traffic passing through the park, such incidents have come down.
With Cubbon Park authorities putting a Kalyani in place at the 'grey' area, no such incident will be reported henceforth as there will always be few men guarding the Kalyani.
"We also have increased our patrolling," said Nagaraj.
The park authorities have held a meeting with BESCOM (the city power agency) and requested them to add 350 LED lights in the park. The department will also place loudspeakers at various spots and CCTV cameras. Instrumental music will be played in the morning hours.
"Once the CCTV is connected, many announcements will be made through loudspeakers and every movement will be monitored," Murgod said and added this initiative would also be a warning to hoodlums who frequent the park.
