The plea, whose petitioner has been mentioned as a five-month-old infant, seeks a ban on vehicular movement in Cubbon Park, saying it is affecting the petitioner’s health.
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The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday issued a notice to the state government on a PIL (public interest litigation) seeking a ban on vehicular movement inside Bengaluru’s Cubbon Park. The plea, which states that the petitioner is a five-month-old Bengaluru citizen, said that the decision of the Karnataka government to allow vehicular traffic inside the park is an “environmentally irresponsible action” which is “directly affecting” the petitioner’s health, well-being and quality of life. As per a report in Live Law, the petitioner’s counsel stated that during the pandemic, the park was closed, and this helped reduce the levels of carbon monoxide inside the park. However, later, the park was reopened after COVID-19 restrictions were eased in the state. The plea also cited a study conducted by a team of researchers from the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, which studied the impact of traffic on the park and recommended that closing the park to vehicular traffic has had a positive impact on the environment. They also added that allowing vehicular movement through the park did not impact the traffic in areas around the park. Adding that the park falls under the ambit of the Department of Horticulture, the plea stated that the department should be taking the final decision in the matter, and that the Cubbon Park Traffic Police or the Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority do not have any authority to make a decision for the park, since “it is beyond their limits and illegal.” Hearing the plea, a bench of Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice Nataraj Rangaswamy directed the Karnataka state government, the traffic police, the Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority and the Directorate of Urban Land Transport to file their statements of objection. The court also turned down the petitioner’s counsel prayer for interim relief, stating that granting the plea would surmount to a final order. There have been many similar pleas filed in the Karnataka High Court seeking a ban on vehicular movement inside and through Cubbon Park. Citizen groups, like Cubbon Park Walker’s Association, had earlier filed petitions seeking a ban on vehicular movements.
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