The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) has started encroaching the children’s playground spaces for placing their construction equipment. BMRCL has put barricades in these areas leaving no space for the kids to play.
Ever since the work for the Namma Metro’s Red Line has started, BMRCL has been using the playground places in various areas.
BMRCL Takes Over Govt. High School Playground
BMRCL has now taken over the Featherlight Pottery Town Government High School playground for constructing its underground railway track. This concerned track is located between Dairy Circle and Nagawara.
Children use this particular playground for playing various tournaments and sports. The high school playground is also used for religious and cultural meetings on a regular basis.
But all these activities will stop as BMRCL has now sealed the place with a banner in front of the ground. The banner reads, “BMRCL work in progress, unauthorized person’s entry restricted.” Construction material can be seen on the ground inside the barricaded area.
BMRCL has an explanation to support its actions. While talking to media, BMRCL said that they are trying to minimize the acquisition of private land by using the existing open spaces. In this way, they want to speed up the construction work.
According to BMRCL, using such open spaces for keeping construction equipment and material will cut down the traffic which may be caused if they choose another place for the same purpose.
BMRCL Decisions Affecting Heritage Of Bangalore
According to a survey by Janagraha, as of now, Bengaluru has only 3%of the total area of open spaces and parks. Prior to the govt. high school ground, BMRCL also occupied a technical training center for the hearing impaired, a school for children with learning and cognitive disabilities, and BBMP Higher Primary School in Tasker town.
Arun Prasad, a social and environmental activist said that such decisions by BMRCL are already affecting the heritage and environment of the city.
Prasad said, “The measures taken by the state government must be eco-friendly, public friendly and sustainable. The anti-citizen behavior of the BMRCL must be met with severe consequences.”
It is not the first time that BMRCL has been criticized for its actions. During the second phase of the Bangaluru Metro Project, the authority faced protests with demands for changing locations of two stations of metro.
The Red Line which is currently under development is a part of Phase 2 of the Namma Metro project.
