Cubbon Park: Four ways to make it more citizen-friendly

By Anuksha Dey

Located at the heart of Bengaluru, Cubbon Park is one of the city’s largest lung spaces. The park, set up in 1870 stretches over 300 acres. Naturally, it has become a hot spot for fitness enthusiasts and a meeting ground for performance arts and social welfare groups. However, the infrastructure here is not up to the mark. Last week, a list of suggestions emerged on social media to highlight the park’s weaknesses, and how to make it better. The suggestions welcomes more people to put forward their ideas and also recommend a landscape design contest from professional design institutions.

For a more eco-friendly park

Currently, the landscaping at Cubbon park allows the natural rock outcrops to exist alongside thickets of trees, grassy lands, and flower beds. The fruiting trees and flowers attract a variety of birds. However, the list suggested how the area can be made more eco-friendly. Concrete structures should be replaced with eco-friendly variety. More trees could be added. The existing trees require better support and maintenance. The garbage and construction debris have to be removed, and the area has to be maintained well.

For the visitors

Given the popularity of Cubbon Park both as a tourist and local attraction, the area needs to be made more accessible to all. “It may be confusing to move around in Cubbon Park,” says Rajajinagar resident Keertana V. “For first-timers, it may be hard to find their way around the area.” The list suggests adding proper signage and floor plans to make it easier for visitors to navigate. Furthermore, it suggests creating designated areas for women, children, and senior citizens, with a revived movie hall for children. Besides, the suggestion is to make the entire park wheelchair-accessible for the disabled, and easier for mothers to move around with prams. The old worn-out furniture also needs to be replaced with all-weather granite tables and benches.

The list has also suggested the creation of a concrete wall outside the compound, and adding more attractions for the visitors. However, this suggestion is criticized. Building a wall will destroy the aesthetics of the park, according to some people. “Today, one walks around safely because the transparent chain link fence allows you to see the footpath outside and vice versa. Notice how dead zones created by encroachments into the park cause you to feel unsafe,” says Leo F Saldhana of the Environmental Support Group. Visitor Archita S had another idea: “If existing trees are maintained and not cut, I don’t think there is a need for ‘attractions’, such as fountains or illuminations.” 

For better traffic management

Cubbon Park has a network of roads running through it. Currently, the vehicles are allowed on these roads every day except Sundays, and the second and fourth Saturday of every month. When there is no traffic, the place transforms into a track for cyclers, skateboarders, and roller skaters, keeping the city’s residents both fit and active. However, on other days, traffic management in the area is sometimes a herculean task. The list suggests banning vehicles in the park on all days. If this suggestion is not feasible, the citizens have suggested a number of other ways to ease the congestion. Some of them include the identification of gates and entrances to monitor the traffic, creating separate bicycle lanes, and allocating proper parking spaces for both two-wheelers and four-wheelers, among others.

For better maintenance

Any rejuvenation project without proper maintenance does not help anyone in the long run. This list provides a number of suggestions to make maintenance of the park easier as well. The suggestions insist on the installation of Dos and Don’t Signs at all major locations in the park, and providing security personnel with electric vehicles to monitor the area more efficiently and silently. However, people on social media have pointed out that the CCTV cameras and lights set up in the park are enough.

While the argument continues, some of these suggestions can be implemented by the authorities to make Cubbon Park, more citizen-friendly.