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COMMENTS

I agree that persons might be inconvenienced about my posting of the entire newspaper articles but I've not done anything unethical as I've unambiguously quoted the source and the link. I've not mentioned / declared that they are my own articles.

It's not just copy and paste. I'd to manually align each and every line, correct spelling and grammatical mistakes in some cases.

Deccan Herald's links will be available for two years and The Hindu's links will be available for five years only. That was the exact reason behind the posting of the text content.

On the contrary it is the media which is unethical. On a couple of instances (I can recall about two specific instances) Karnataka's top two regional English dailies have put their own media abbreviations for the photos which I'd taken at a great risk. That is unethical.

The Deccan Herald too is unethical because it didn't mention by name in one of its news reports regarding Lalbagh and mentioned it as a member of Mysore Grahakara Parishat. That too is unethical. Didn't it have the space to include my name when it'd quoted upteen number of citizens' views?

Citizens show thumbs down to govt's Lalbagh 'facelift' plan Deccan Herald or DH dated Thursday, May 26, 2010

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/71817/citizens-show-thumbs-down-govts.html 

I'd quoted the Delhi High court order upteen number of times since October 2009 asking the agencies concerned to leave 6 ft of circumference around each tree concrete free in Mysore City too but not a single medium / media / newspaper bothered to publish it.

But when some head of an NGO whom I'd not like to identify called a press conference at the Pathrakarthara Bhavana in Mysore city they published it as his own (at least one / some of the exact sentences which I'd quoted in my press releases). So this specific instance makes almost each and every regional and local media in Mysore unethical.

Some of the top media in the state did this so-called investigative journalism about the footpaths / pedestrian infrastructure without giving me credit for discovering the exact latest rule of the Indian Road Congress or IRC norms (in its entirety) w.r.t. to minimum footpath width.

In some cases media gets the hints / clues / points from our press releases and goes and does investigative journalism on it without mentioning about the source which gave it such leads / hints / points.

Media has got a serious introspection to find out as to whether what it is doing is ethical.

I'm sorry for the inconvenience caused because of my posting of the entire newspaper articles. I'll refrain from posting newspaper articles in future.

It will also save my energy, time and money and the trouble of correcting spelling and grammatical mistakes (if any) and manually aligning each and every line and formatting wherever necessary in order to make them reader friendly.

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GSI dashes State's Lalbagh dreams Deccan Herald or DH Wednesday, May 25, 2010

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/71614/gsi-dashes-states-lalbagh-dreams.html 

The State government's plan is to construct the musical fountain at the foot of the monolithic rock formation (at the western base area of the Kempe Gowda Tower). The concrete artificial pond, on which the fountain will be set up, will also come up in front of Cacti House inside Lalbagh, sources told Deccan Herald.

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Citizens show thumbs down to govt's Lalbagh 'facelift' plan Deccan Herald or DH dated Thursday, May 26, 2010

 http://www.deccanherald.com/content/71817/citizens-show-thumbs-down-govts.html 

Bangaloreans are proud of Lalbagh. And, they seem to be in no mood to allow any intervention by the government either to beautify it or sell hard to tourists by installing a musical fountain or conducting a laser show.

In response to Deccan Herald's invitation to express their views whether Lalbagh should remain as it is or should be developed as an amusement park, a good number of Bangaloreans have sent their mails vehemently opposing the horticulture department's proposed plans.

While a reader said he distributed sweets after reading the news that Geological Survey of India is opposing any work on the rock garden, a member of the Mysore Grahakara Parishat (MGP) has submitted a petition to the governor, chief minister and head of the Horticulture Department opposing the project proposals to develop Lalbagh into a fun park.

Here are excerpts from the mails DH has received:

Don't disturb nature

Lalbagh and Cubbon Park are the only two remaining lung spaces in the heart of Bangalore. Why does the Government want to turn every open space into an amusement park?

Lalbagh is beautiful as it is, so please let it be as it is. Let it not become a Santosa. Nature is beautiful as it is, just preserve it.

Prema Kakade

No junking

The Garden City (Bangalore) has already lost much of its greenery. There is no dearth of amusement centres in the City. It is absolutely absurd to develop Lalbagh as an amusement centre. It shows lack of direction at policy makers' level.

If Lalbagh becomes an amusement park ignoring the sentiments of the people, the entire area will become a garbage yard as eateries are bound to come up.  The need of the hour is to ban plastic, movement of vehicles, desilt lake and prohibit further construction in Lalbagh. Let us not lose even a single tree in the name of development.

Rajiv N Magal, Bannerghatta Road

A great lung space

Lalbagh should remain what it has been for the past 250 years, a beautiful garden and a great lung space.

Karthik

Need maintenance

It is good to see Deccan Herald taking up the cause of saving Lalbagh. It is distressing to read that the botanical gardens will be 'beautified' in inappropriate way. Lalbagh and Cubbon Park that are beautiful by themselves need maintenance. I wonder what official version of beauty is.

Lalbagh should be cherished, preserved as heritage and not marred by nonsensical 'facelifts.' It is heartening to know that GSI is opposing the project. Hope good sense will prevail upon officers to stop the project.

Srikrishna Aiyar

Preserve for posterity

As a school teacher, I feel that construction of an amusement park is a colossal  waste and burden on Bangaloreans. It aggravates pollution. Already many old trees have been chopped under the pretext of widening roads, construction of metro rails, fly-overs, etc.

We should not disturb nature. Lalbagh should be preserved for posterity.

Kala, Yeshwanthpur

Why don't they learn?

Let the government do not do anything to the natural beauty of the rock and old trees of Lalbagh.

Why not decision makers learn from their foreign trips to leave nature and maintain the gardens as they are? Should we do everything to attract tourists? We certainly do not want Santosa. Keeping the gardens clean is sufficient.

Ahalya Kumar

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Choking the lungs Deccan Herald or DH Editorial dtd Thursday, May 26, 2010

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/71770/choking-lungs.html 

Lalbagh isn't meant to be a cheap, touristy place.

With its unregulated growth continuing unrelentingly, pollution and lack of lung spaces in Bangalore are certain to become a major issue in the near future. The emissions from its two-million plus vehicles plying on its roads, the deafening decibel levels and uncleared garbage have ruined the ambient air quality in the metropolis.

The carrying capacity of the City has been stretched far beyond acceptable levels with the serious shortages of water and electricity and choked roads. The mindless construction activity and the destruction of trees in the name of infrastructure development have increased the ambient temperature.

Kempe Gowda, the city's founder, and the men who gave it its current shape later including Hyder Ali, Tipu/Tippu Sultan, the British and the Indian administrators who followed them in the early decades of the last century ensured that the City was not only livable but also that it continued to retain its fame as Garden City or for that matter the air-conditioned city.

Perhaps the pace of growth makes it inevitable that Bangalore slides down the quality of living index a couple of notches. But none expects active collusion of the administrators in ensuring that whatever lung spaces left in the City are converted into tacky, crass and cheap touristy hangouts.

That precisely seems to be the objective of the state government's horticulture department whose amazingly obtuse thinkers had to seek inspirational ideas from a resort in Singapore for their outlandish plans to improve upon the natural beauty of Lalbagh.

The flashes of inspiration they received from Singapore's playground include a rock garden, a laser show and a musical fountain. What is missing from the Sentosa menu? A monorail, a golf course, a skyride, a four-dimensional theatre, a sky tower and a cable car?

The Lalbagh and the Cubbon Park are among the precious legacies that the founders of Bangalore have left for the generations succeeding them. It is as if they anticipated that the City would grow beyond the towers of Kempe Gowda and would need parks for some fresh air.

The Lalbagh, which hosts many rare species of flora and caters to the needs of thousands of citizens, needs to be left as it has been for the last two-and-half centuries. If the present lot in the horticulture department cannot lavish the loving care its forerunners did on the parks, the least it could do is leave the lung spaces alone.

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Rs 29 crore facelift for Lalbagh Deccan Herald Wednesday, May 26, 2010

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/71629/rs-29-crore-facelift-lalbagh.html

Heavy estimated cost for each work creates ripples in official circles

The Horticulture department has planned to spend more on hard landscaping (non-organic parts) than the soft landscaping as part of the proposed Rs 29.30 crore rock garden project in Lalbagh Botanical Garden.

As much as Rs 17.05 crore is estimated to be spent towards cleaning, decorative wooden gate, dust bins, pathways, drinking water facilities, electrification, fencing and other facilities.  For the actual rock garden work (also called soft landscaping), an estimated Rs 7.25 crore will be spent.

Deccan Herald is in possession of a provisional line estimate and project plan prepared by the department for the development of rock garden. Besides landscaping, a Rs 4 crore has been estimated as the office expenses and Rs 1 crore as the consultancy services.

Many gardens to come up

As part of the soft landscaping, the department has planned to develop a Zen garden, Cacti garden, Orchid garden, Topiary garden, Moss garden, Ornamental shrubs, Bonsai garden and lawns on the rock surface. The State Cabinet has already given green signal for the implementation of both the rock garden and musical fountain projects.

What has surprised one and all in the official circles is the cost estimated for each of these works. For instance, the cost of 30 dust bins has been estimated to be Rs 15 lakh (Rs 50,000 each). Similarly, Rs 1 crore for an irrigation system, Rs 15 lakh for site cleaning, Rs 25 lakh for a decorative wooden gate and so on and so forth.

When contacted, Horticulture Director N Jayaram, however, said the details are based on the indicative line estimate procured from authorised consultants which will be technically updated and validated prior to implementation.

On the musical fountain, he said the concrete pond for the fountain will be constructed without disturbing the rock. "We will ensure that our projects does not damage the monument. We will take the permission of the GSI for this purpose, if necessary," he claimed.

Asked whether the pond will come up on the foot of the rock, he said the rock is spread across Lalbagh garden.  "It is said the same rock extends till the City town hall. Our aim is to beautify the rock and not to damage it," Jayaram asserted.

He further claimed that the department has no plans to cut any tree for these project. Instead, 50 different species of cacti, succulents and suited botanical species will be planted as part of the project. Constructions, if any, will be taken up on waste land, he said.

But, official sources said, some trees will have to be sacrificed for constructing the fountain. Though this fact has been discussed at the official level, it has not become part of any document as the detailed project report (DPR) is yet to be prepared.

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