Green-loving Bengalureans delighted as parks will now remain open all day

Bengaluru, NT Bureau: Parks in the “Garden City” have broken their chains and are now open to citizens all day long.

On Tuesday, Deputy Chief Minister and Bengaluru Development Minister D.K. Shivakumar announced that around 1,200 parks in the city will remain open from 5:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.

Activists and citizens have warmly welcomed the move, as parks are "spaces meant for everyone”. Parks in the city come under the Horticulture Department of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).

Preeti Sunderrajan, a civic activist from Citizens for Sankey, lauded the move. “This gives space for working people to rest. It also helps them emotionally refresh, acting as a source of comfort,” she said.

It is necessary that security guards and restrictions on food be imposed to avoid littering. “It is important that citizens use a park extensively and flag issues to improve them. Parks are meant for citizen,” she added.

Srinivas Alavilli, an activist and Fellow at the World Resources Institute, also welcomed the move. “It doesn’t make sense to keep parks closed during the day. It is wonderful news for people, particularly from the informal sector,” he said.

Parks also act as a space for socialisation among people from different walks of life. “Instead of going to lavish cafes, people can simply socialise at parks. They make Bengaluru the Garden City it is.”

However, the move also evoked questions about poor facilities and lack of surveillance. H.L. Manjunath, programme manager of civic participation at Janaagraha, pointed out that most of the parks in the city do not provide basic sanitation and surveillance.

“Although the move is welcome, the facilities need to be improved. This is only possible with ward-level representatives. The BBMP needs to conduct a survey and work on feedback,” he said.

‘Decision taken on karmika requests’

Deputy Director of Horticulture at the BBMP Chandrasekhar MR told News Trail that the civic body heeded the requests put forth by pourakarmikas, informal workers, and officegoers.

“The DCM also looked into the requests and approved the new park timings,” he said. When questioned about safety and surveillance, Chandrasekhar assured that these issues would be addressed in coordination with the police.

Parks still follow old timings, managers claim order not passed to them

Despite D.K. Shivakumar’s announcement on Tuesday to keep parks open fo r 17 hours, it was found that the old timings were still being followed on Wednesday.

A park in BTM Layout 1st Stage was closed, and when the in-charge was approached, they responded that the order had not been passed to them.

“We haven’t got the order in our hands yet. However, we don’t expect a lot of people to come here at this time,” the in-charge told News Trail.