Most of us have seen our garden city transitioning into the IT hub. In spite of this growth, the city has retained a few green spots, which can truly be called the lungs of the city. One such green oasis is the Cubbon Park.
Situated right in the middle of the city, this space hosts not just over 7,000 trees but is also a hub for activities like performances, runs, exercises, yoga and more.
But, just as our lungs wear and tear with all the fumes we inhale, so has Cubbon Park over the years.
“The park was originally designed by architect Richard Sankey, with four ponds meant to collect rainwater. These ponds would hold the water in such a manner that they would provide groundwater for the trees,” explains Meena Dave of the India Cares Foundation, who is spearheading the CPR (Cubbon Park Rejuvination) project in collaboration with the TCS (Tata Consultancy services) World 10k Bengaluru
The TCS run starts from the Kaneetrava Stadium and goes through Cubbon Park. During the run we discovered there were wells in Cubbon Park that were dried and covered in dirty leaves.
We also learnt that the horticulture department was buying water for 45 to 50 lakh annually to maintain the park. When we studied the wells, we saw they had around five feet water in them even in the month of May,” recalls Meena.
But the horticulture department was “hesitant” to use that water and the foundation started to work at restoring the wells. “We got in touch with Ramprasad from the Friends of the lake group and Vishwanath, also known as the Zen rain man. We cleaned the wells and the water levels went up to 20 feet in summer.”
Meena adds that the restoration work is still happening. The teams are working towards rain water harvesting by digging trenches and have also connected all the seven wells in the park.
- The main purpose of rainwater harvesting is to use locally available rainwater to meet water requirements throughout the year without the need for huge capital expenditure.
“Our core competency is bringing people together to collaborate and see that the plan is executed,” states Meena.
According to her, the team soon expects a minimum of one lakh litres of water in the wells every day.
They also plan to put up sign boards across the park mentioning the names of the trees and plants and notes about the historical importance of the park for visitors. “But all this needs funding. So we have started a Facebook page asking people to contribute anything from five rupees and above. If we, as citizens, contribute towards a project, then the onus is also on us to keep it safe and protected.”
For details you can log on to http://icfn.in/cpr/ or call 22222571.
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