BENGALURU: Residents of South Bengaluru have started a letter campaign to keep parks and lakes open for public use from 5am to 10pm. Hundreds of residents from different localities formed a group and have been writing letters to Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) Chief Commissioner M Maheshwar Rao, urging him to keep parks and lakes open for recreational activities.
Currently, Bengaluru has over 1,100 parks and 250 lakes. In December 2025, GBA issued new timings of 5am to 11am and 4pm to 8pm for parks and lakes.
Shridhar Manek, a resident of South Bengaluru who started the campaign, said, “I launched the letter campaign on social media two weeks ago. Many residents joined the campaign, and wrote letters to GBA Chief Commissioner Maheshwar Rao, urging him to keep parks open so the public may go for walks whenever they wish.
Sometimes, people would just want to spend time in these places. The campaign is on till January 31 and people can send more letters to the GBA commissioner until they open parks full time.”
Deepak Joy Cheenath, another resident who sent a letter to the commissioner, said, “I am a resident of Koramangala but I work at HSR Layout. Opening parks and lakes full time last year was a good initiative. After lunch, most of us would take a break and go for a walk in the parks. Since there are a lot of vehicles on the roads and footpaths aren’t pedestrian-friendly, people prefer to spend time in parks and lake premises.”
Cheenath added, “Once when I was speaking on the phone in a park, the gates got locked. After some time, I realised and requested the guard to open the gates. These spaces are supposed to be kept open for recreational activities, why shut them?”
GBA Commissioner Rao and Chief Engineer of Bengaluru South City Corporation Basavaraj Kabade were not available for comment.