Bangaluru: In sheer number of footfall, the Republic Day Flower Show at Lalbagh is proving to be a success. While this has brought cheer to the Department of Horticulture, volunteers are not enthused with the rampant use of plastic and polypropylene bags, and the lack of segregation.

On Tuesday, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials, with assistance from a few waste volunteers, seized around 25 kg of plastic and polypropylene bags from the vendors.

Waste volunteers told that they had been in touch with the department since December last to put in place a mechanism to handle the waste generated at the event. However, a meeting to discuss the issue was held only in January, just days before the flower show was to be inaugurated, they alleged.

Odette Kartak from Beautiful Bengaluru, an initiative that works towards a clean, green and safe city, said they had recommended that vendor agreements should have a clause on banning plastic and on waste segregation. “Yet most of the vendors are using plastic and polypropylene bags. Food stalls are offering plastic-lined and disposable paper plates and cups,” she said.

This year, the waste management agency, BVG India Ltd., provided many bins for dry waste, but several were found missing at the show. It was later revealed that vendors had upturned the bins and were using them as stools.

Deputy Director M.R. Chandrashekhar claimed that the department had urged vendors to desist from using plastic and other banned material. “We are trying to promote cloth bags and will have stalls selling cloth bags near all the gates,” he said.