Citizens term withdrawal of Parks Bill ‘victory for Bengaluru’

Bengaluru’s civil society groups have welcomed the State Cabinet’s decision on Thursday to withdraw the controversial Karnataka Government Parks (Preservation) (Amendment) Bill, 2026, which allowed for alienation of 5% park land to accommodate the tunnel road project, as a “victory for civic activism and the true essence of democracy.”

This is being seen as a rare victory after the government was forced to withdraw the steel flyover project in 2016 and the recent acquisition of lands in Devanahalli. The Opposition BJP has also claimed credit for the same.

However, with the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister clarifying that the Bill will be put for wider public debate and reintroduced with suitable amendments, civic groups are cautious about how the government would take it forward.

Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashok has said that this is a victory for the BJP, the second after the party forced resignation of former Minister B. Nagendra. “The government has announced withdrawal of the Bill within 24 hours of the BJP announcing its protest,” he said. He said that the BJP would oppose taking over park land in future too.

After the Bill was passed without debate in the recently-concluded monsoon session, amid protests by the BJP seeking resignation of Mr. Nagendra, several civic groups had objected to it. This was followed by an online petition against the amendment, which gathered over 25,000 signatures, and subsequent silent demonstrations at Lalbagh.

Greenpeace India, along with several other organisations, first ran a poster campaign under the banner “Not 5%, Not One Inch. Leave Our Parks Alone.” This was followed by a protest walk at Lalbagh on August 30, called by Bengaluru South BJP MP Tejasvi Surya, seeing a large turnout.

N.S. Mukunda, founding member of Bengaluru Praja Vedike, said that when the public presents clear facts and figures in opposition to something, it has to be heard, which is the true essence of democracy. “Bengaluru’s civic activism and participation may have declined over the years, but it remains strong, and mobilisation must improve,” he added.

Environmentalist A.N. Yellappa Reddy, who was at the forefront of opposition to the Bill, said this was a lesson for bureaucrats, technocrats, and government advisors, who should be attentive to public opinion and act in citizens’ interest.

Following the victory over the Parks Bill, civic groups have now stepped up their demand and called for the controversial tunnel road project to also be scrapped. “The tunnel road projects - both short tunnel and the North-South and East-West Corridors - need to be scrapped. Our fight will continue on that front,” Mr. Mukunda said.

Mr. Surya said the fight was not over yet. “Until the disastrous tunnel road project is officially dropped, neither Lalbagh nor the ancient Peninsular Gneiss Rock is safe,” he said.