The government’s proposal to reduce the 15% reservation for parks and playgrounds has received much criticism. Environmentalist Suresh Heblikar and Leo Saldanha of the Environment Support Group talk to Joyeeta Chakravorty about political greed and a bill that threatens our basic rights

Returning the Karnataka Urban Development Authorities (Amendment) Bill, 2016, that seeks to reduce spaces reserved for parks and playgrounds from 15 per cent to 10 per cent and civic amenity sites from 10 per cent to 5 per cent, Governor Vajubhai Vala made it clear it will not serve public interest. Tabled in the legislature on Wednesday, the Bill does not apply to Bengaluru, but will affect over 200 towns and cities across the state.

"There should not be a reduction. I do not agree with this concept. Reserving a big 15 per cent of the total space in a city is good environment practice and good for health too. Why should we reduce this space?" asks environmentalist, Suresh Heblikar.

Mr Leo Saldanha of the Environment Support Group adds more forcefully, "The proposal to reduce minimum open space and civic amenity space in urban areas is not only preposterous, it is criminal. Today cities have very high densities of population compared with the 1960s when the Town and Country Planning norms and National Building Code were evolved in India.”

Mr Heblikar interrupts to say, "To reduce the area to be reserved for civic amenities from the present 10 per cent of the total area to 5 per cent would still be okay if this space was used for some environmental activity like rainwater harvesting or growing medicinal plants."

Calling it a politically maneuvered move, Mr Saldanha observes, "The greed to grab public land is incessant. The Joint Legislature Committee headed by A T Ramaswamy confirmed that thousands of acres of public commons have been encroached. This was subsequently built on by the Koliwad Committee, which is now finding it difficult to articulate a process for reclaiming encroached public spaces. It's a deeply vexatious political issue."

The man behind India's first artificial forest in an urban sphere, Mr Heblikar notes regretfully, " In 20 years we have lost a 1000 lakes. I have seen this city in its most beautiful phase and witnessed what urbanisation did to it. More than a decade ago I was making a film next to Varthur lake and all I could see back then were farms where people were growing vegetables. It was a beautiful sight. Look at it now. Do you understand what is going to happen eventually if we only concentrate on cutting down lung spaces ? Have you seen what has happened to the five districts around Cauvery? They have lost the forest and hence no rain. Many of these people are not aware of the impact and how it will affect the environment and sustainability."

Mr Saldanha sums up more emphatically, “The Bill that proposes to reduce open spaces is not only insane, but also criminal as it attacks our very right to live, which includes rights to live in a holistic environment. The legislature has a Constitutional obligation to make our lives healthier, our living affordable, our mobility safer and our neighborhoods more inclusive of all classes of society.”