Opposition to amend Park Act grows as writers urge repeal, Karandlaje writes to Governor

Opposition to an Amendment to the Karnataka Government Parks (Preservation) Act, 1975, is mounting as a forum of Kannada writers and progressive thinkers, on Tuesday, urged the State government to withdraw its Amendment.

Meanwhile, Shobha Karandlaje, Minister of State for Labour and Employment and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, wrote to Governor Thaawar Chand Gehlot, requesting that he not accord assent to the Act, calling it a “regressive” and “draconian legislation”.

“The parent enactment was conceived to preserve government parks and gardens; the present Amendment, on the contrary, creates a sweeping statutory mechanism for their alienation and utilisation for purposes other than their preservation,” she said.

The Karnataka Government Parks (Preservation) (Amendment) Bill, 2026, allows the alienation of 5% of parks and garden lands for public purposes.

In a statement, Jagrutha Nagarikaru Karnataka argued that the 5% provision was not merely a number but a question concerning the city’s future green spaces. It expressed concern that the exemption could be misused in the future and lead to further diversion of park land.

“Parks are not merely spaces for people to walk. They provide essential environmental services such as clean air, shade, rainwater absorption, biodiversity, and temperature regulation,” the organisation said.

The group also questioned the government’s stated intention of allowing the land for “public purposes”, claiming that there was a lack of transparency in the proposal.

Referring to Cubbon Park, the forum said several government and private offices and clubs already occupied space within the park and expressed apprehension that Lalbagh and other major parks could face a similar fate.

The group also highlighted Bengaluru’s air pollution and said the city needed more parks and green spaces, rather than a policy that could reduce the area of existing parks.

“Such unilateral decisions, without adequate foresight, are unscientific and inhumane,” the organisation said, urging the government to act responsibly with the city’s long-term interests in mind.

The forum demanded that before any portion of a park is diverted for another purpose, the government must publicly disclose the environmental impact, the availability of alternative locations, and the actual necessity of the change. It also called for consultation with residents and the independent assessment of projects that could affect the environment.

Citizen activists also slammed the way in which the bill was passed. Rajkumar Dugar, Founder of Citizens for Citizens (C4C), said, “I am surprised at the speed at which this particular Bill was passed in the Assembly without the consultation of citizens and other stakeholders. Bengaluru’s green space is already shrinking, and building infrastructure projects like a tunnel road inside a heritage botanical garden like Lalbagh is not necessary and should not come at the cost of destroying biodiversity.”

Dattareya Devare, Trustee of a Bangalore Environment Trust, said, “This act of passing a Bill to use 5% of space in parks is undemocratic. For any sort of project, whether it is a tunnel road or a short tunnel road or any public infrastructure, it is wrong to alter a heritage park like Lalbagh or lakes like Hebbal and others. These have been part of the city even before it earned the tag of IT city or silicon city.”