Just days after Bengalureans gathered to oppose the construction of a seven storey building inside Cubbon Park, the Horticulture Department has floated a tender to collect parking fees from five sites in the lung space.
The Horticulture Department expects to earn around Rs 60 lakh annually from the five parking zones inside the green zone, but park users claim that this goes against their plan of making Cubbon Park vehicle-free similar to Lalbagh.
One of the key reasons for opposing the multi-storey structure was that the new building will bring close to 300 additional cars to the park.
Umesh Kumar, a lawyer and president of the Cubbon Park Walkers Association said, “Why do they want to float tenders for two years when they know very well we’re trying to ban all vehicles from the park? What is the point if people come here to walk and exercise but breathe polluted air?”
He added, “Already all our city’s lung spaces are shrinking and the city is getting more polluted day by day. Why is the Horticulture Department interested in making money rather than preserving the park?”
He also said that he would move the High Court to oppose the decision to open parking sites as it would harm the park further.
If built, the multi-storey structure will not only be the first new building to come up inside the park premises since 2001 thanks to the same HC-enforced ban, but a heritage structure will also be lost.
Another protest similar to that held on November 1 is planned for Sunday.
Due to concerted efforts from the Walkers Association and environmental activists, currently a blanket ban on vehicles in Cubbon Park is enforced on all national holidays, Sundays and fourth Saturdays (being a government holiday).
Former IFS officer and environmental activist AN Yellappa Reddy said ideally there should be no vehicles inside the park.
“It’s a park, not a parking area. Hundreds of vehicles are coming inside now and raising the temperature by 2-3 degree C in the day time, this impacts the entire ecosystem. The second point is that when you come to the park, there is a lot of ‘idle running’ of the engine, which means there is a lot of unburnt hydrocarbons released in the atmosphere. This with the atmospheric NOx and bright sunlight will create a lot of ozone in the atmosphere. This ground-level ozone is a secondary pollutant and is very harmful to the flowering, fruiting processes. This is not only harmful to the plants but also to butterflies and other animals,” he explained.
Additionally, he said abrupt braking and starting of cars will also increase 2.5 PM particles in the air inside the park due to the wear and tear of engines and tyres.
“So those who walk there won’t be breathing any good air. People go there as they want some good quality air but if you allow this there won’t be much difference from the rest of the city,” he added.
But the Horticulture Department rejected claims that the decision to float tenders was directed at generating more revenue.
“Currently we cannot stop vehicle entry into Cubbon Park like at Lalbagh. But we are exploring the possibility. But for practical purposes, as there is good vehicular movement, we want to regularise the whole system and curb haphazard parking. If there is a decision to enforce a blanket ban, we will revoke the tender. The tender includes such conditions, it won’t be any hindrance,” Deputy Director of Cubbon Park Kusuma G told TNM.
Kusuma also said there was no pressure on the department to generate revenues.