Don’t want Cubbon Park to become IT park: Protesters

BENGALURU: Over 100 citizens gathered at Cubbon Park on Sunday morning to protest the proposed high court annexe building coming up at the cost of its green cover.
Representatives from resident welfare associations located in HRBR Layout, Whitefield and Malleswaram, along with socio-political activists from B.PAC, members of citizen advocacy initiative Heritage Beku and other groups met at the State Central Library in the park and used a megaphone to share personal stories and memories of the city’s premier lung space.
The protesters said they feared the proposed building would set a bad precedent and trigger slow concretization of the green space. “We do not want Cubbon Park to become Cubbon IT Park in a few years,” they declared.
“My family and I have travelled to many developed countries and pictures from the parks there are almost a match to Cubbon Park. We came for the protest but stayed on for a few more hours. It is such a peaceful and mesmerising place. My children loved spending time in the park and I’d prefer this green space is maintained for the future generation. This was one of the many things the protestors discussed today,” said Christopher Cruz, a resident of HRBR Layout.
Alex James, an environmentalist and one of the conveners of the protest, wondered why Cubbon Park is the favourite target of the authorities. “It is not just 100-150 trees that we will lose to clear land for the annexe building. Once they start digging, another 100-200 trees will be affected as their roots will get weakened,” he pointed out.
“This movement is gathering steam, Bengalureans settled abroad are also in solidarity with us in this endeavour,” a protester said.