BENGALURU: A banner that had sprung up overnight inside Cubbon Park and espoused consumption of arrack to counter Covid-19 sent morning walkers and park authorities into a tizzy on Tuesday.
The banner was put up by a lawyer, identified as Rajanna, and claimed the cheap and unrefined liquor is the government’s best weapon to contain spread of the virus. The lawyer had also provided his phone number on the poster.
The banner left visitors, who included senior bureaucrats, baffled as the state government had banned the manufacture and sale of arrack 15 years ago. While some rubbished the arrack-cure claim, others wondered how such a banner was allowed to come up inside the park.
Rajanna said: “I am simply requesting the government to use a couple of drops of arrack on a Covid-19 positive swab to understand how efficient it is against the virus. Speaking from my personal experience, arrack can be helpful if it is consumed in a controlled environment and in a limited quantity. It should be consumed how syrups and drops are used.”
Rajanna said he has written several letters to the central and state governments, requesting them to consider arrack as a treatment/cure for Covid-19.
S Umesh, president of Cubbon Park Walkers’ Association, said, “This specific issue was not brought to our notice. The pattern we have observed with similar incidents inside the park is that miscreants tend to befriend or pay the security guards, which has become difficult for us to monitor.”
The deputy director of Cubbon Park, however, said security personnel are not in charge of checking vehicles, which is how the banner might have found its way into the park.
Balakrishna HT, deputy director, department of horticulture, Cubbon Park, said, “We took down the banner as soon as it was brought to our notice. The citizen concerned hadn’t sought permission from park authorities before putting up a flex banner. We will issue a warning to him regarding the same.”
