After bedas, ideas pour in for the bekus

Some citizens pointed out how existing green spaces, such as Cubbon Park, are shrinking by the day

Citizens are enthused by their victory in the battle against the controversial steel flyover.

From beda to beku ; enthused by their victory in the battle against the controversial steel flyover to the international airport, citizens are now pitching their ideas to a larger, like-minded audience to channelise their support. The latest is a campaign demanding green spaces.

A suggestion on the Citizens for Bengaluru (CFB) group to start a ‘Park beku ’ campaign got the thumbs up of many. The citizen wants the government to allot large areas for parks in the peripheral areas, including Electronic City, Whitefield and Budigere.

“In the future, when the city grows more, at least there will be some respite in these areas. We don't want forest spaces to be lined with huge apartments that draw all the ground water, like the Turahalli forest. But, if we don't act now, we will only see dwindling green spaces in the future. Let us act now,” said the member.

Some citizens pointed out how existing green spaces, such as Cubbon Park, too are shrinking by the day.

“Very positive suggestion. We need to create such breathing spaces all around Bengaluru. This will not only start decongesting the city spaces, but also create new lung spaces. Let's kickstart this,” said another member.

According to the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), the city has 1,125 parks. But the BBMP Restructuring Committee’s report pointed out how skewed the distribution of open spaces - primarily parks - is. The report had said 34 wards had less than 1% of their area as public open space — all in the outer zones — of which five wards had no public open space at all.

Naresh Narasimhan from the CFB said the group is an open forum due to which a lot of suggestions are pouring in. “We have to choose our battles. We have not decided one yet,” he added.