BENGALURU: People from different parts of the city thronged Cubbon Park on Sunday to oppose the construction of a seven-storeyed annex building of the Karnataka High Court in the park’s premises.
Members of Heritage Beku gathered in front of Maharaja statue in the park to support the lung space of the city. Cyclists, ploggers, runners, walkers, including freedom fighter H S Doreswamy and actress Vasundahara Das, showed up to support the cause. All of them held placards which said #CubbonparkUlisi (Save Cubbon Park).
Vasundhara Das said, “What is the need of constructing a seven-storied building? As the citizens of Bengaluru, we are proud that we have such a huge green space. It is so distressing to think of a concrete jungle here. We are already talking about 70% of Bengaluru’s green cover disappearing in a span of 15 years, so we can’t let this happen to Cubbon Park. We must preserve our greenery.”
Member of Heritage Beku Priya Chetty Rajagopal said, “This is not a protest but a concern collection — people coming together to share their concerns on the issue. We wanted to know the public’s opinion. Many walkers and runners shared their connection and stories relating to Cubbon Park.”
A student from Parikrama school also joined in for the cause and voiced his opinion. One of the students even made a rap song in Kannada about not wanting concrete buildings in the green space. “We are the young generation and we should stand to protect our environment. When you think of Cubbon Park and Lalbagh, all you can visualise is greenery. We do not want that image to be replaced by buildings,” said a student of the Parikrama school.
Meanwhile, even people from Cubbon Park Walkers Association held a protest near the old State Election Commissioner’s building, which is proposed to be demolished for the new building. “Our main concern is not the seven-storeyed building but the damage it will cause to the climate and environment. During the construction, other parts will also get damaged and it is like paving a way to even other buildings in the future. We want to preserve the few lung spaces we have in the city.”
Heritage Beku members had also kept a weighing scale where one on one side, a box which said “I don’t care” was placed and another side had a box which said “Save Cubbon Park”. There were seeds kept next to the scale. It was the public’s choice to put the seeds in whichever boxed they wanted to. Within no time, the box with “Save Cubbon Park” was filled and the other side had no seed in it.