Now Reading: Bengaluru green space law change allows 5% parkland diversion
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Bengaluru green space law change allows 5% parkland diversion
The Karnataka government has amended the Karnataka Government Parks (Preservation) Act, 1975, allowing up to 5% of parkland to be used for public utility projects. The state Cabinet cleared the amendment on…
The Karnataka government has amended the Karnataka Government Parks (Preservation) Act, 1975, allowing up to 5% of parkland to be used for public utility projects. The state Cabinet cleared the amendment on August 21, 2026, and the Legislative Assembly passed it on August 24 without debate. Citizen groups have raised concerns that the change could facilitate a proposed tunnel road project requiring land from Lalbagh.
The amendment alters the legal definition of protected parks, creating a route to divert green space for infrastructure projects whenever deemed necessary. Research by the Indian Institute of Science found that between 1973 and 2013, Bengaluru's built-up area increased from 7.97% to 73.72%, while green spaces declined from 68.27% to 14.69%. The city has faced rising temperatures, shrinking tree cover, recurring flooding, and a shortage of public open spaces.
Studies cited in the report show urban green spaces in Bengaluru are on average 2.23 degrees Celsius cooler than their surroundings, with cooling effects extending 347 metres beyond park boundaries. The editorial argues the government should reverse the amendment and adopt nature-positive urban planning that establishes no-go areas for concrete development.
Indian Opinion Analysis
The amendment to a 1975 Act removes the blanket protection that treated all notified parks as inviolable. Under the original law, any alienation required a separate legislative act. The new provision creates an executive route through the cabinet, lowering the political cost of approving diversions. Bengaluru's remaining green cover is already fragmented: the IISc data shows green spaces shrank by over 50 percentage points in four decades while the built area grew ninefold. The next test will be which projects the government designates as public utility. That definition will determine whether the 5% carve-out becomes a routine exemption or a rarely used power.
The state government now decides the list of eligible utility projects, with no independent environmental oversight mandated in the amendment.
Source: deccanherald.com
This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
