The Karnataka state government has reportedly issued a notification asking the Bengaluru City Traffic Police to relax the restriction of vehicular movement in Cubbon Park. Bosky Khanna reports for Deccan Herald that the said notification was issued on May 24, empowering the Cubbon Park police inspector to open the gates of the park to traffic, even on second Saturdays and Sundays.
Citing that the number of vehicles in Bengaluru has increased from 24 lakhs in 2009 to 67 lakhs in 2017, the notification reportedly observes that the number of vehicles in the city exceeds its road capacity.
As the new order comes into effect from June 10 (a second Saturday), Cubbon Park will be open for traffic on all days except for Sundays. The park will be open even on public holidays, which was not the case till now. However, the park will be closed for traffic from 10 pm to 8 am on all days.
Bangalore Mirror reports that the order was issued by the City Police Commissioner, citing VIP traffic movements in Vidhana Soudha.
The newspaper published a portion of the order that reads:
“It is inevitable to make use of all the available roads around Vidhana Soudha for free movement of VIPs without causing any hindrance to regular traffic. In recent times, traffic police have been finding it tough to regulate the traffic on roads surrounding the park. Hence, keeping aside all the earlier orders, a new order has been issued facilitating the movement of vehicles inside Cubbon Park."
While the City police commissioner and R Hithendra, Additional Commissioner of Police, have denied issuing any such orders or even requesting for relaxation, horticulture department officials are not a pleased lot.
The Times of India quotes a senior official from Horticulture Department as saying that the Cubbon Park Traffic police had approached them with a copy of the notification on Wednesday.
“The previous notification was such a nature-friendly approach that we were glad to welcome it and act accordingly. This time, however, we were not even approached once for a discussion before the notification was issued," the official was quoted as saying.
Horticulture department officials and activists fear that with opening the park- that is the only lung space in the city- would make the park dirty and polluted.