No development at Lalbagh's cost

No development at Lalbagh's cost

Bosky Khanna



In the last one year, the city has lost a large number of trees in the name of development. Currently it is the Lalbagh, one of the oldest gardens in the city, synonymous to the Bangalore's identity, which is facing the axe to make way for the upcoming metro rail project. Vinay Sreenivasa, a volunteer of the NGO Hasiru Usiru spoke to Bosky Khanna on the issue.

The government has asked people if they want better infrastructure or a beautiful city. Your comments.
Trees do not merely beautify a city, they are the lifelines of Bangalore. Presence of a healthy number of trees would mean that the temperature is kept under control. We do not want infrastructure that comes at the cost of killing these trees. Also translocation, which most agencies and the Metro developers are talking of, is not an alternative. It is an expensive procedure and there is no space. When the BBMP felled the trees for road widening, they had assured to plant 100 saplings on Race Course Road. But till now, only 26 have been planted.

How important is Lal Bagh?
Apart from being a part of the city's heritage, it is one of the few natural open spaces the city has, which is accessible to all. It is one of the remaining lung spaces of Bangalore and should be retained.

Is metro project the actual villain?
As per the Karnataka Town and Country planning act, people should be consulted before undertaking any major infrastructure work, which has not been done in this case. Thus the government is the real villain. As per metro statistics, Rs8000 crore is being spent for phase 1 and will be used by 10 lakh people, which is 12 per cent of city's population. Over 38 lakh people travel in the BMTC bus. If BMTC spends a couple of Rs100 crore more on increasing the fleet, more people will be benefited. What is the point of spending so much money and tearing the city apart, when the beneficiaries are very limited?

Isn't underground metro a solution?
It's true that underground metro is an ideal solution. But to come up with right solutions, it is important to hold public meetings, which has never been done in the case of the metro. It seems that the government and the metro officials are scared to face the people.

What can a common citizen do to save Lal Bagh?
A citizen can write to the MLAs, MPs or even to the radio stations to get their voices heard. You need to take a stand and protect the trees and Lal Bagh. You can write to BMRCL or call them and tell them what they are doing is wrong.