Parkland amendment sparks concern among B’luru environmentalists

Bengaluru

For environmentalists and civic bodies in the city, the recent approval of the Bill to amend the Government Parks (Preservation) Act, 1975, was exactly what they had been warning about. The amendment allows up to 5% of government park or garden land to be used for infrastructure projects. The arrival of the amendment against the backdrop of the proposed Hebbal-Silk Board Tunnel Road project, which is planned to pass through Lalbagh, has raised eyebrows, with citizens alleging that the Garden City is being overtaken by concrete. “I have been warning about this for some time, and it's happening now.

They have been trying to take Parklands and natural lands for construction for some time. Also, it will be used for large infrastructure projects, and Cubbon Park and Lalbagh will be included in this. So, these are very worrisome developments,” said Vinod Jacob, co-founder of Environmental Impact Group. Rajkumar Duggar, founder of the Citizens for Citizens (C4C) group, was quick to put together a petition for concerned citizens to sign, demanding the protection of more Parkland and a reversal of the decision in the public interest. The petition had 3,625 signatures at the time of writing this article.

“Apart from tranquillity and recreation, parks are needed to curb the rising air and noise pollution in the city. The importance of greenery is universally known and accepted. Climate change is happening only on account of such decisions where greenery is compromised for so-called development,” said Duggar. The petition called the decision highly unfortunate and unacceptable and earnestly appealed to the government to reverse it. Duggar also mentioned that Bengaluru had only 1,000 acres of green space, while UN-Habitat targets for green space would mean Bengaluru needs about 10,000 acres of greenery.

For the city's youth, parks have become essential third spaces, and groups such as Fridays for Future (FFF) have been calling for their protection through protests, dialogues and campaigns against projects such as the Tunnel Road. “We're noticing a pattern. It has been the chief minister's pet project, and we've also been following all interviews of Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda. So, it's pretty clear that they're in no way understanding all the concerns we have raised so far. It's been pretty clear that they feel like only roads and corridors and tunnels and road widenings will solve the traffic issue,” said Sam preetha from FFF Karnataka. She also said that while the decisions coming one after another had been very disappointing for activists, they would still try to change the course of the government in this regard and were discussing ways of doing so.