Citizens fight it out for their green cover rights

Citizens fight it out for their green cover rights
Bengaluru,


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Bengaluru's nature lovers are drumming for more people participation in saving the city's green pockets

Instead of applauding the common man on the street who may be trying to add to the city’s green cover, the authorities sometimes do just the opposite as Dr M.L.
Lalithamma, 65, learnt. A resident of Padmanabhanagar, she came under fire from the BBMP for creating an eco-park on 1.5 acres in a densely populated locality.

To her horror, she found that in a matter of hours around 12 trees had been chopped and medicinal plants grown over several years, bull-dozed in the park. Aghast as she was, Lalithamma was not defeated.

She decided to fight against the injustice done to her park and fortunately, found she could

count on the support of other concerned individuals "With no green cover what will we do with recreation?" she asks, demanding that the authorities leave her eco-park alone. The people have demonstrated their fighting spirit in the green cause, in other ways too. Not so long ago public pressure stopped the government from donating part of a park in Malleswaram to a music academy.
“There are several such instances of people playing a significant role in preserving the city’s green spaces,” observes Maheshwar M., an eco activist.

Bengaluru’s nature lovers are drumming for more people participation in saving the city’s green pockets, now increasingly under threat, pointing out that they are the real custodians of Bengaluru’s natural resources and can play a pivotal role in preserving its parks and opens spaces for the sake of their children and the elderly.