BENGALURU: Three of the seven gates of Cubbon Park will soon be closed to vehicular movement permanently. The Horticulture Department has decided on this following requests from walkers and also in view of the increasing pollution levels inside the park due to movement of vehicles.
The department has placed the proposal before a high-level meeting chaired by the chief secretary recently. “When we discussed about closing some of the park gates, the chief secretary asked us to submit a detailed survey report about the number of vehicles passing through each gate,” said Mahantesh Murgod, Deputy Director, Horticulture Department (Cubbon Park).
Accordingly, the Horticulture Department asked the PWD to conduct a survey and the three-day exercise concluded on Friday evening. A detailed report on vehicle movement through each gate will be submitted to chief secretary soon. “Once we get confirmation from the government, we will issue a public notice on closing of the gates,” said Murgod.
According to another Cubbon Park official, movement of vehicles is less from Hudson Circle gate, KR Circle gate and the one near NGO hall. The idea is to close all the gates and ban entry of vehicles, but as it cannot be done overnight, the authorities are going about it in phases. “We want to implement the Lalbagh model where all gates are closed to vehicles. Now we are closing gates on Sundays and three national holidays. Our idea is to close all the gates and stop entry of vehicles on Saturdays and Sundays,” said the official.
The survey was conducted between 8am and 10pm at all the three gates and details of the types of vehicles entering the park, number of two- and four-wheelers, etc., were collected. “It is an hour-based study. In case there is less traffic movement at a particular gate in the afternoon, we are thinking of closing that gate during afternoons,” the official added.
High Court parking lot work still incomplete
The Horticulture Department has written to the High Court authorities asking them to complete work on the parking lot soon. Officials said that they were told that the work will be completed by March 31, but even six months after the deadline, there is no update and vehicles are still being parked inside Cubbon Park. “We have asked them for a update,’’ the official added.