Vandalizing lovers threaten Lalbagh's ancient volcanic rocks
- Ignorant lovers choose these rocks to scribble their names
- This volcanic rock formation is said to be over 20 million years old
FollowSoon you may find some rock formations at the Lalbagh Botanical Garden losing their charm. You can credit that to overzealous and ignorant lovers who choose these rocks to scribble their names hoping that by scratching their names into the stone their love will also become immortal.
The rocks are also under threat by the nuisance posed by groups of men who treat this as an open bar where they smoke and drink liquor. Despite alcohol and flammable substances being banned in the park, the smoking and drinking goes on, say authorities.
As a result of this flouting of the rules, recently miscreants had set fire to the dry grass in the area. The officials say that the dry leaves and grass that are dumped there to make compost were set on fire.
The rock, because of its volcanic nature, generally produces lot of heat during summer as even little friction could result in fire and smoke that could affect the surroundings.
It has been declared as a National Geological Monument rocks site. Kempe Gowda, the founder of the Bengaluru, had built four towers to mark the outer most boundaries of erstwhile Bangalore.
One of these towers is atop a hillock in the Lalbagh garden. It is one of the best places from where one can view the Bengaluru skyline and so the number of tourists who come here is huge. The tower is on a rock which is believed to be over 20 million years and thanks to human ignorance is now under threat.
Chandrashekhar, the Deputy Director of Lalbagh, has beefed up the security cover for these rocks in the 30-acre site. He said, "These are volcanic rocks, the lovers and public who come here are warned not to damage the site, but they do not listen. Some chisel and few drink liquor and smoke cigarettes around the area. This has resulted in a fire at the manure collection point close to the site and trees were damaged.
So, now the security personnel have been asked to patrol near the rock sites and catch people writing names or chiselling on the rocks. The checking at the entrance has also been intensified to ensure no liquor or cigarettes are allowed inside.”
