Bengaluru | Whose parks and gardens are these anyway?

For decades, Bengaluru has revelled in its status as the Garden City. But of late, the city’s parks and gardens have become objects of contention as different groups want to claim ownership of these public spaces in their own ways. While the ownership of these spaces technically lies with the State government, the lack of concrete regulations give rise to the question of ‘whose park is it anyway?’ from time to time. 

What started this conversation this time around was what happened with Cubbon Reads on December 21. Cubbon Reads is a community of readers who gather at Cubbon Park, one of the largest lung spaces in the city, and read from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Saturday. There are people who come by themselves, those who come in duos or groups and lay down their mats and carry on with their reading. This practice has been going on for almost a year now and has inspired such events in other places in Bengaluru as well as other cities.  

The organisers claim that hundreds of people gather every weekend to read in Cubbon Park. However, chaos broke out on December 21 after the reading session was interrupted by officials of the Horticulture Department. On that day, readers had brought gift-wrapped books to exchange among each other to celebrate the pop culture event known as ‘Secret Santa’. These books were confiscated by the officials and the curators of the event were called into their offices. 

G. Kusuma, Deputy Director, Horticulture Department, said that the event was stopped as there was a lot of “screaming and shouting” and a gathering of up to 1,000 people, which is not allowed as per department rules. She said that any event in which over 20 people gather should get prior permission from the department, which was not the case with Cubbon Reads.  

The organisers, on the other hand, alleged that they had never been informed about these rules by the department, and on that particular day, they were mistreated and harassed by the authorities. 

For decades, Bengaluru has revelled in its status as the Garden City, but of late, its parks and gardens have become objects of contention as different groups want to claim ownership.
| Photo Credit:
SUDHAKARA JAIN

“They first took two of our curators to the Department of Horticulture office. The department officials were hostile and thought that Cubbon Reads was selling books to the public and using a public space to make money. They forcefully extricated their ID cards. The security guards there were talking about imposing fines from anywhere between ₹25,000 and ₹60,000. Also, our founding curators, who are not in town, were called. They were threatened with a First Information Report and a fine and asked to show up in their office right away, or else the current curators would be held in custody,” the community said in a press release. 

For decades, Bengaluru has revelled in its status as the Garden City, but of late, its parks and gardens have become objects of contention as different groups want to claim ownership.
| Photo Credit:
K. BHAGYA PRAKASH

They further said: “Regarding the request for permission, we have been conducting silent reading gatherings for 100 weekends now, and each time, over 200 to 300 people have shown up. Not once did the park authorities have an issue with us coming there to read, stacking books, and taking group pictures with hundreds of us huddled. We did not anticipate that readers coming together with gift-wrapped books would invite suspicion from the park authorities, forcing them to snatch the belongings and unwrap gift covers—only to find harmless books inside.” 

For decades, Bengaluru has revelled in its status as the Garden City, but of late, its parks and gardens have become objects of contention as different groups want to claim ownership.
| Photo Credit:
K. BHAGYA PRAKASH

Amidst all this, many other communities and individuals who frequent Cubbon Park also shared their experiences on social media stating that they were allegedly harassed by the Horticulture Department. There are many similar communities which go by the names Cubbon Paints, Cubbon Designs, Cubbon Canines etc. who all gather in the park on designated days.  

For decades, Bengaluru has revelled in its status as the Garden City, but of late, its parks and gardens have become objects of contention as different groups want to claim ownership.
| Photo Credit:
SUDHAKARA JAIN

There were also other regular visitors who sided with the Horticulture Department and said that hundreds of people gathering in a lung space without permission needed interception.  

For decades, Bengaluru has revelled in its status as the Garden City, but of late, its parks and gardens have become objects of contention as different groups want to claim ownership.
| Photo Credit:
SUDHAKARA JAIN

“While some rules of the department like banning photography inside the park do not make sense, with this particular issue, both the parties were at fault. While silent reading inside the park is one thing, making it an event for gift swapping naturally attracts more people and the organisers should have taken prior permission. We should also think about the fact that not all those who participate in the event will dispose of those wrappers properly,” said a member of the Cubbon Park Conservation Committee.  

But regulars of Lalbagh Botanical Garden in the southern part of Bengaluru rarely report rifts with the Horticulture Department.  “For 15 years now, many small activities have taken place in Lalbagh. Whoever wants to conduct events usually gets in touch with the walkers and then we help them contact the officials and then reading, art and craft events are organised. The only time we had to fight with the department was when they wanted even the morning walkers to buy tickets. After we protested, they took that rule down,” said P. Sadashiva, president, Lalbagh Walkers’ Association. 

Not only Cubbon Park 

For decades, Bengaluru has revelled in its status as the Garden City, but of late, its parks and gardens have become objects of contention as different groups want to claim ownership.
| Photo Credit:
K. MURALI KUMAR

These debates are not limited to Cubbon Park alone and extend to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) parks as well.

The BBMP owns over 1,200 parks in Bengaluru and they are open to all groups of citizens. With the privatisation of such parks and the adoption of 506 parks by local citizens and Residents’ Welfare Associations (RWAs), citizens had raised issues about access to the parks. While BBMP had mandated that parks should be open throughout the day (5 a.m. to 10 p.m.), many used to be closed for hours in the afternoon.

Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar responded to these complaints in 2024 and reiterated that the parks should remain open throughout the day irrespective of who maintains them.  

However, there are some rules even in these parks which do not benefit the public. For instance, the BBMP has banned the consumption of food in public parks. “The intervention of the BBMP with regard to timings has definitely helped delivery partners. As gig workers, we are always on the move, and we need spaces where we can rest and have food. Hence the removal of restrictions on food consumption can be of great help to us as we cannot sit anywhere else and eat at ease,” said Vinay Sarathy, president of United Food Delivery Partners’ Union.  

For decades, Bengaluru has revelled in its status as the Garden City, but of late, its parks and gardens have become objects of contention as different groups want to claim ownership.
| Photo Credit:
K. MURALI KUMAR

Just like gig workers, pourakarmikas, drivers, domestic workers, and street vendors are some of the other groups who are often disserviced by the restrictions on access and activities in public parks. 

“Any organisation can help maintain the park, but they should not be the rulemakers. Parks are needed especially by people who cannot meet at other places, cannot find privacy in their own homes, homeless people, and blue-collar workers. The rules around access and activities in parks should be in such a manner that it benefits the most vulnerable and the marginalised in society. The decisions should be made democratically,” said Vinay Sreenivasa, advocate and citizen activist. 

Role of RWAs 

While the RWAs in the city deny allegations that they restrict access to parks and control the systems there, they agree that local residents should be involved up to some extent in the operations of the parks as they are the ones who should bear the consequences when things take a turn for the worse.

For decades, Bengaluru has revelled in its status as the Garden City, but of late, its parks and gardens have become objects of contention as different groups want to claim ownership.
| Photo Credit:
K. MURALI KUMAR

“As we live in the vicinity of these parks, we need to ensure that anti-social elements do not enter the parks. They even rough up security guards and it is the local residents who rush to the parks and call the police. We are the ones who take the responsibility for these parks,” said Sneha Nandihal from I Change Indiranagar. She added that RWAs often also take care of planting saplings, maintenance of infrastructure in parks as BBMP officials rarely keep a check on such things. 

Need broader discussions and inclusive guidelines 

Are Horticulture Department officials of both the State government and the BBMP sufficient to frame rules for parks and gardens? No, say citizen activists. 

“All public spaces are commons, and they should not have access restrictions. That being said, there needs to be rules for their maintenance which include broader democratic discussions. If we take Cubbon Park, it is much more than just a botanical garden, it is a public space. Hence, one government body is not enough to frame these regulations. Representatives from the Horticulture Department, from BBMP, from the police, and the public should come together to frame them,” Vinay suggested. 

The Horticulture Department is gearing up to do something similar. “We have a Cubbon Park expert committee at the Principal Secretary level which includes stakeholders from other departments, walkers, and others. We are also including some more expert opinions on what rules and regulations need to be present in Lalbagh and Cubbon Park. We want to issue a government order in this regard to clear all the confusions,” said M. Jagadeesh, Joint Director (Parks and Gardens), Horticulture Department.  

He further explained: “These regulations will specify what is allowed in these gardens, up to what extent, what is now allowed, and details regarding permissions that should be taken. Then there will be no ambiguity. Our main aim is to conserve Lalbagh and Cubbon Park. Hence, we will come out with a policy that is environment, park, and people-friendly.”

He also said that once the Republic Day flower show in Lalbagh is over, the department will go ahead with framing the policy. 

As for BBMP parks, officials said that there are no plans to release any specific guidelines for the parks as of now. “The timings of the parks are 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. and any restrictions on that are illegal and it should be brought to our notice directly. If any events are to be organised, then the organiser must seek permission from the BBMP. As far as restrictions on eating is concerned, they are in place as littering is not permitted in parks,” said Preeti Gehlot, Special Commissioner, Horticulture, BBMP.