JOIN USThe park at Nagarabhavi 2nd Stage 11th Block, which is the only such park of Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), lies in a dilapidated condition.
Adding to its woes is encroachment, which has kept people away from it for at least a month now.
A BBMP board put up inside the park advises people to ‘conserve greenery to protect biodiversity’. The board, however, is damaged and even dumped in a corner, away from the visitors. Inside the park, the walking track has been completely filled with mud. The centre of the ‘greenery’ is filled with crushed stones, cement and other construction material.
As a result, the one-acre park has not seen visitors since March 27, with the regular strollers too preferring to stay away from the track.
Members of the Nagarabhavi Nagarikara Vedike say that some people had on March 27 cut the trees in the park, dug up about a quarter area of the park and dumped the construction debris there. They added that the same persons had, about eight years ago, built a temple that measured 100 sq ft (10 ft x10 ft) inside the park The place had been a civic amenity (CA) site, and former Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) Commissioner Siddaiah had come to here to inspect it as we had urged him eight years ago to build a park. The night before the inspection, a group of people constructed the temple in an attempt to lay claim to the place, said the members.
“Siddaiah took the group to task for such work, but we did not protest as the temple was already constructed. The park was constructed and handed over to the Palike,” the residents said.
No construction in public places
As per an order of the Supreme Court, unauthorised construction of any kind is not permitted in public places.
When the encroachers tried on March 27 to expand the space occupied by the temple, the residents wrote to Palike Commissioner M Lakshminarayana, who directed the Joint Commissioner of Rajarajeshwari Nagar zone, Bheemappa B, to stop the construction immediately.
“The work has been stopped, but we are unable to use the park because of the construction debris dumped everywhere and portions of the park have been dug up,” said a senior citizen, “We want the Joint Commissioner and the Palike engineers to clear the area of the debris so that we can walk here again.”Joint Commissioner Bheemappa B told Deccan Herald the construction debris would be removed at the Nagarabhavi park and steps taken to restore it.