BENGALURU: Observing that the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) cannot give permission to use playgrounds mechanically, the Karnataka High Court on Thursday directed an organisation to remove the pandal erected by it at National College Grounds, Basavanagudi, by Saturday morning.
The division bench of Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Mohammad Nawaz issued this direction to Sri Vidyaranya Yuvaka Sangha — a socio-cultural organisation — after hearing the public interest litigation petition filed by Shankarapuram Residents Welfare Association in the city.
The court has also made it clear that the BBMP will have to remove the pandal immediately if the organisation fails to remove it before 11 am on Saturday. If BBMP accedes to the request of the organisation, the permission should not exceed five days, the court ordered the civic body.
About the pending application seeking permission to conduct Bengaluru Ganesh Utsav from September 2 onwards, the court asked the BBMP to consider it in accordance with Section 6 and 8 of Karnataka Parks Playfields and Open Spaces (Preservation and Regulation) Act, 1985.
Meanwhile, the BBMP informed the court that the council of the BBMP resolved to give permission to conduct recreational activities for 11 days at the ground, as the city lacks recreational grounds.
The counsel of the petitioner argued that two years ago, an ambulance carrying a patient who had a cardiac arrest, could not enter a residential area. This was due to haphazard parking of vehicles by people attending recreational activities on the ground during Ganesha festival.
This apart, creating nuisance and playing music is also causing severe inconvenience to the residents.
In the name of celebrations, commercial activities like car sales expo were also conducted last year on the ground,he argued.