Bengaluru: Even on bandh day, when business and other activities in the city was affected, it was business as usual at Lalbagh Flower show, much to the surprise of authorities. Adults and children turned up in large numbers even on Thursday, and the Horticultural Department earned Rs 7.58 lakh as revenue on that day.
"We expected very less turnout during the Karnataka bandh, but a significant number of people and the turnout was good. There were 12,600 adults and 132 children," P.C. Ray, Horticulture Commissioner, told Deccan Chronicle.
Remarkably, the revenue generated on January 25 was more than that what was earned on the preceding weekdays. When queried about how people reached Lalbagh, as buses were off the road, Joint Director Dr Jagadeesh said, “Sixty per cent them came using Metro.”
The visitors were attracted to the wood carving workshop and the mini Niagara waterfall and it was operated with increased frequency due to huge crowds, he added.
Dr Jagadeesh said the staff refreshed their showcases on display since January 19, by replacing 'cut flowers' used on larger-than-life size Bahubali replicas on Wednesday, with fresh orchids, Anthurium, Asiatic and Oriental lilies. Frigid zone flowers from Sikkim and Darjeeling, were also replaced with fresh ones to last till Sunday.
The highest record of collection was on Republic Day (Rs 55.54 lakh, followed by earnings on January 21 (Rs 23.05 lakh) and January 20 (Rs 10.61 lakh). The number visitors on Republic Day was the highest with 90,480 adults and 6,305 children.
