BENGALURU: The campaign by activists and citizens to ensure Cubbon Park remains vehicle-free, received a major boost on Sunday with the Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT) recommending to the State government to close the park for motorised traffic, and also ban parking within the largest lung space of the city. DULT comes under the Urban Development department.
DULT Commissioner V Manjula, who is also ex-officio Additional Chief Secretary, in her letter to the Secretary, Department of Horticulture and Sericulture, Rajender Kataria, said there is a thinking in a section of the government to reopen Cubbon Park for traffic. At the same time, DULT received representations from citizen groups to intercede on their behalf to ensure a traffic-free Cubbon Park. DULT then examined the matter in detail.
In her letter, Manjula stated that Cubbon Park is a vast green space in the heart of the city and needs to be preserved. In cities across the world, spaces in the city core are being reclaimed for the use of pedestrians and cyclists, and Cubbon Park is an ideal place for this. Pedestrians and cyclists can also use the Park as a shortcut to reach their destinations. Closing Cubbon Park to motorised traffic will not cause inconvenience as vehicles have alternative routes to reach their destinations, Manjula said.
DULT is of the view that reopening Cubbon Park to traffic is not advisable and even vehicles parking should not be allowed here. After Cubbon Park remained closed for vehicular movement during the lockdown, the State government decided to open it for traffic on August 23.
Citizen groups and activists protested, forcing the government to retract “temporarily”, in what seemed to be a victory for the citizens in reclaiming their lung space. However, even during the closure, parking was allowed inside Cubbon Park. But now, with DULT’s recommendations, citizens hope to reclaim their lung space completely.