In yet another attempt at making one of the city’s biggest lung spaces less polluted, Cubbon Park authorities, along with the Public Works Department (PWD), have conducted a survey to study the number of vehicles that pass through the 194-acre park each day.
The recently concluded three-day survey will lay the basis for the Horticulture Department’s proposal to keep at least some of the seven gates closed.
The Horticulture Department initially pitched the plan during a meeting with the Chief Secretary, who then asked for a survey to see the feasibility of the proposal.
The PWD, with the help of a students, studied vehicle movement from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. from Wednesday to Friday at each gate.
A report is likely to be submitted to the government on Wednesday.
The contention of the Cubbon Park authorities is that not all of the seven gates are required to be kept open, more so the ones near Hudson Circle, K.R. Circle and M.S. Building, as their closure will not affect as many motorists.
“The gates near UB City, High Court, Bal Bhavan and Press Club are very busy. But at least three other gates can be permanently closed or closed early to facilitate a pollution-free environment on those stretches for people,” said Mahantesh Murgod, Deputy Director, Cubbon Park.
With over 7,000 trees, Cubbon Park sees close to 4,000 walkers during the weekdays, with the numbers swelling up to 25,000 during weekends.
At the same time, though the gates are open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., the park has nearly 1 lakh vehicles plying within it on any given day.
As an experiment, the park was made vehicle-free on Sundays and second Saturdays, yielding positive results. Last year, a study conducted by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board, on request from the park authorities, had shown that Respirable Suspended Particulate Matter (RSPM) level at the park reduced by 55% on the vehicle-free weekends.
At the same time, walkers have frequently objected to the park space being corroded by construction of permanent structures and vehicle movement, taking a toll on the plants, trees and birds and animals.
Earlier this year, when the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike began whitetopping Nrupathunga Road along with TenderSURE work, traffic from K.R. Circle to Hudson Circle was diverted via Cubbon Park.
The number of vehicles passing through the park doubled to 2 lakh, forcing park authorities to write to the palike asking them to speed up work.
The walkers said the partial closure of gates is a small, but positive step to close the gate.
S. Umesh, president, Cubbon Park Walkers' Association said, “It is a good move. Walkers will benefit. But if all the gates can be closed like Lalbagh, it will be even better. But Cubbon Park does not even have a compound,” he said.
