Residents livid over legislators’ township

Residents worry that the township will destroy the green cover in the locality.

BENGALURU: The idea of a legislators’ township on a 100-acre plot near Whitefield (Kadugodi plantation) has not gone down very well with the residents of the area. Pursuing this project might lead to another steel flyover-like issue, as residents worry that the township will destroy the green cover in the locality. In fact, citizens have already started a signature campaign against the proposed plan.

Urban expert R K Misra says, “This is totally unacceptable. How can they even think of coming up with such a project in this locality? This is one of the precious lung spaces here. Besides, there have been a lot of issues regarding the land. The High Court has directed the Forest department to hand it over to the Revenue department. We will file an appeal in the court against it.”

However, Legislative Assembly Speaker K B Koliwad says, “It is just an idea, nothing has been finalised. We are just exploring all possibilities and this is just one area which came up for discussion.”
Most residential localities in Whitefield don’t have a park. A few that do have tiny ones.

Overall, Whitefield does not have any major lung space, a large park nor a recreational area.
However, thanks to the efforts of the Forest department, over 700 acres of forest land has been preserved. A part of this land -- some call it Kadugodi plantation -- is being used by CONCOR, a public sector firm. Despite this, close to 200 acres is available that can be converted into a large lung space.
Residents here are very keen to preserve the green space and feel the best way to do that is to develop a park akin to Lalbagh or Cubbon Park.

The proposed township will have independent houses for MLAs and MLCs along with amenities such as a club house, a community hall, recreation centre and a playground.

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