Park of protests astir with hope

Park of protests astir with hope

Several protestors became nostalgic while opposing the loss of the green cover

Vaishalli Chandra. Bangalore



Ten thirty on Sunday morning. There was a sudden rise in the number of pedestrians near Lalbagh West gate. Concerned citizens gathered with posters, tree twigs and banners for the fourth time in the week to protest and raise concern over the present alignment of the Namma Metro. They demanded that the work be stopped at the proposed Lalbagh site.
Today, NL Narendra Babu, Congress MLA from Mahalakshmi Layout, and IIM-B professor Rajeev Gowda joined the marching protestors.
Babu informed the gathering how the ordinance was passed at the Assembly session held in November at Belgaum without a debate. Opposed to losing the green cover, he said, "World over, the Metro has done well underground. That is the way to do it in this city as well." "It is a moment of sadness to see a portion of Lalbagh go away," said Prof Gowda. He got nostalgic about spending "childhood days at my grandmother's house nearby, playing cricket".
There were two protests, one that started from Lalbagh West gate and the other, an all-women protest near Ganesha temple on the 28th cross at RV road. The protestors gathered there and amidst sloganeering, some protestors distributed pamphlets at the signal to make more people aware of the issue. Resident association members from Jayanagar 2nd block were also present at the meeting.
"On May 1, we will hold a public debate," informed Leo Saldanha of the Environment Support Group. Details of the time and place are yet to be decided, but there was an open suggestion from Gowda that "we should picket outside the BMRCL office".