Defacement has become a major cause for concern at the Chandigarh Botanical Garden near Sarangpur Village, Chandigarh. The watchtower sheds and the under-construction interpretation centre have been the most affected by the practice of people scribbling or carving their names on the walls. A security guard, Nanhey Singh, who has been employed at the garden for nearly 12 years said, “There is a security guard each at the five entrances with five more for taking rounds and checking everything. The main building and other fauna reserves are properly protected but since the garden is so huge, we can’t always keep an eye on people when they wander into the sheds.” Singh added, “It is mostly couples who come here and write stuff on the walls and pillars. We do manage to spot them sometimes, after which we scold and ask them to leave. But, until we have enough people to check the entire garden, there is no point as people return behind our backs. Sometimes it is just a fun game for them to not be spotted.” The interpretation centre at the garden has been under construction for a long time with not much progress being made on the interior finishing work. The cement walls of the unfinished set of buildings have also not been spared by the visitors as heart symbols and names are a common sight. The beautiful and huge garden which spreads over 176 acres and accommodates a huge collection of fauna from different regions is losing its sheen due to defacement. Speaking to Chandigarh Newsline, Chief Conservator of Forrest, Santosh Kumar said, “It is impossible for us to employ so many people to keep a check on every building in the vicinity. This problem which is prevalent everywhere is only dealt with temporarily and that too when the buildings are repainted every year. People have a strange way of thinking when they tend to express love like this and ruin property. The building which was supposed to be an Interpretation Center is not being finished because the Cultural Department want to construct a museum there. The final decision is uncertain and an unfinished building tends to fall prey to such atrocities.” The foundation stone for the garden which is connected with the nature reserve known as Patiala-ki-Rao forest through a causeway was laid on May 30, 2002, by Lt Gen JFR Jacob (Rtd), former Administrator, UT Chandigarh.
