Bengaluru: Chief minister DK Shivakumar Wednesday said the state govt is exploring development of three large parks like Lalbagh and Cubbon Park in Bengaluru by utilising land owned by defence and forest departments, in a bid to expand green spaces for residents.Speaking at the inauguration of Independence Day flower show at Lalbagh, Shivakumar said the city and its people require more green lung spaces and recreational spaces as its population continues to grow and urbanisation intensifies.He said he has already identified three locations. “I will soon be meeting the defence minister Rajnath Singh and give my proposal to have a botanical park like Lalbagh in the defence land. I have already identified the location,” said Shivakumar. The proposed parks, he said, would remain under the ownership of the respective departments while being developed and maintained as public green spaces on the lines of Cubbon Park and Lalbagh.Shivakumar said he has also held preliminary discussions with forest department and has asked various agencies, including GBA, BDA and horticulture department. “We are planning to create three to four parks during my tenure itself,” he said, adding a detailed meeting would be convened shortly to finalise the implementation strategy, responsibilities of each agency and framework for developing the parks.Referring to a similar initiative in Varanasi, Shivakumar noted Varanasi municipal corporation had approved the exchange of more than 57 hectares of land with defence estate and railways to facilitate public amenities, including the creation of a 30-acre park. He said Bengaluru could adopt a similar model to unlock underutilised govt land for public benefit.
