BENGALURU: For people looking for a relaxed Sunday, Cubbon Park is the ideal place. And Namma Metro has made the commute to the park rather hassle-free for many. With the surge in crowds flocking to Cubbon Park on Sundays, park authorities have decided to double the security force on duty at the park.
At present, Cubbon Park has 66 personnel on duty with 22 staffers working in rotation on eight-hour shifts. “We plan to have an additional 75 security staffers at the park. This will mean 25 more security staffers in each shift. Tenders will be floated in a day or two,” said Mahantesh Murgod, Deputy Director, Cubbon Park (Horticulture department). The shift timings for security personnel are 6am to 2pm, 2pm to 10pm and 10pm to 6am. Cubbon Park sees about 15,000 to 20,000 visitors on Sundays. At present, the number has risen to 25,000 to 30,000, Murgod said.
Metro a big boost
Cubbon Park and Vidhana Soudha stations located close to the park have definitely added to the number of visitors to the park on Sundays.
“Metro is definitely responsible for the rise as we notice large numbers from Nagarbhavi, Vijaynagar and other parts of West Bengaluru visiting the park to have a day out with family on Sunday,” said Murgod. (Metro’s underground network was opened to public on April 30, 2016.)
Pradeep Singh Kharola, Managing Director of Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd, said the Metro has brought more number of people to the Cubbon Park. “The figures for Saturday might include employees at Vidhana Soudha and other offices nearby. Figures for Sunday would be clearly indicative of the numbers Metro is contributing towards footfalls at Cubbon Park.”
He adds that between 6,200 and 8,200 passengers exited from Cubbon Park and Vidhana Soudha Metro stations during the last four Sundays. Even on weekdays, Metro is responsible for a small chunk of visitors to the park, the MD said.
“A very interesting aspect we have noted are the early morning trains from Vijaynagar. The first train from Mysore Road towards Baiyappanahalli is packed with people in sports attire who visit Cubbon Park for their morning exercise and return home by another train an hour later,” he added.