BENGALURU: The Cubbon Park Walkers’ Association (CPWA) has strongly opposed the proposed construction of a skating rink at Bal Bhavan, urging the state government to immediately halt the project and prevent further concretisation of the city’s premier green space.
The association said the proposed facility was unnecessary, pointing out that a well-equipped skating rink already exists at the Sri Kanteerava Stadium, located just across the road from Cubbon Park. Building another rink within the park would amount to a redundant use of public resources while causing avoidable environmental damage, it said.
The CPWA warned that the proposal was part of a continuing trend of urbanisation encroaching upon Cubbon Park, which it described as one of Bengaluru’s last remaining “lung spaces”. Any additional permanent structures, the association argued, would irreversibly harm the park’s ecosystem.
“Our stance is clear: Cubbon Park must be protected in its natural state,” says S Umesh, President, Cubbon Park Walkers’ Association. “We cannot allow the park to be treated as a vacant plot for construction. We must prioritise the preservation of our environment over redundant sporting infrastructure that already exists nearby.”
The association has demanded that the government and the horticulture department withdraw the proposal immediately, impose a total ban on new concrete structures within the park and officially recognise and protect Cubbon Park as a sensitive ecological zone.