B’luru residents protest against proposed 10-storey HC annex in Cubbon Park

Several organisations and citizens of Bengaluru staged a protest against the construction of a 10-storey building as an annex to the Karnataka High Court within the premises of the Cubbon Park here.

The groups gathered on Sunday at the Cubbon Park to show their opposition to the project.

Protesters also said that the building would take up park space and lead to an increase in pedestrian and traffic congestion. They urged the state government to drop the plan.

The recent decision of the Karnataka Public Works Department (PWD) to revive an earlier project to build an annex to the High Court in Cubbon Park has drawn widespread criticism from the public as well as from the opposition BJP.

Reacting on the issue, BJP MLA Uday Garudachar on Monday said, “Those (Cubbon Park) are all areas which should not be touched. They are lung spaces of the city.”

Congress MLA from the city’s Shivajinagar constituency Rizwan Arshad said he would appeal to the concerned authorities and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in this regard.

“Absolutely, we will appeal to the government and CM. We will raise this issue. We need to encourage more green spaces,” he said.