In light of the increasing sandalwood smuggling from Gulab Bagh, Udaipur Municipal Corporation (UMC) has appointed guards for maintaining security of Zoo and Garden. These guards will be patrolling between 6 PM to 9 AM.

According to Mayor, Rajni Dangi, a squad of 6 people including 2 Home Guards and 2 Firemen have been appointed at Gulab Bagh. The action, she said, has been taken to check the increasing cases of Sandal Smuggling from the garden.

Around 10 incidents of cutting down of sandalwood tree have been reported from the garden in the past couple of weeks.

Mayor further added that the current arrangement is only temporary. Talks are currently going on with higher authorities for deploying a permanent solution to the problem.

It may be noted that issue of responsibility/guardianship of Gulab Bagh has been a bone of contention between Public Works Department and UMC. Temporary, rather than a permanent solution, at this stage, might be a result of after-effects of this tussle.