Park on tank bed makes way for IGNOU centre

Park on tank bed makes way for IGNOU centre
New Indian Express

BANGALORE: The city had lost a tank few years ago in Kamalanagar (ward 16) but the residents had to come to accept it since the lake bed was made into a park.

The Bangalore City Corporation (BCC) had inaugurated the park in June last year and had named it after the city founder Kempe Gowda.

The morning joggers, children and the local laughter club were a happy lot till they found out that the government had allotted the same land for the local campus of Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU).

Of the 4 acres and 11 guntas of the park area, the special Deputy Commissioner of Bangalore City district allotted 4 acres to IGNOU in March this year.

The residents had been running from pillar to post to register their protest but to no avail.

Sandeep, a regular visitor to the park said: ‘‘This is the only lung space we have in the locality. We were happy when the park was developed but we felt cheated when we discovered that it would soon vanish.’’

The issue was raised in the BCC council meeting, in August, by the Opposition leader B R Nanjundappa, but the commissioner informed the house that revoking the decision was beyond his purview.

But 32 residents appealed the government recently that the park be retained even as the IGNOU had already paid Rs 30 lakh to the government towards the price of land.

It seems imminent that the laughter in the park would soon vanish, regretted K B Narayanaswamy a local leader.