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BENGALURU, June 17, 2015

Public open spaces add up to just 2.25 p.c.

of citys area

K.V. ADITYA BHARADWAJ

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In a city once known as Indias Garden city, how much open space do citizens
have to breathe? While Bangalore Development Authority norms mandate 15
percent open spaces, i.e. parks and playgrounds, in the city, the actual amount
has reduced to 2.25 per cent of the citys area.
Even the last remaining spaces will fast deplete, according to an analysis of GIS
data collected by the BBMP Restructuring Committee. For a population of 84.43
lakh (as per 2011 census) the per capita availability or the open space available for
a citizen is just 1.89 sq m. This is far below the WHOs benchmark of 10 sq m per
capita for an ideal sustainable city. With the citys population is estimated to have
grown tremendously from the 2011 data, the per capita open space is expected to
drop below 1.6 sq m when the official population crosses a crore.
Even the cramped open spaces are distributed badly, with some localities having
nearly zero open space
Leo Saldanha of the Environment Support Group blamed the shrinking open
spaces to lopsided planning in the city. The abysmally low public open space area
in the city can only spell doom, if the city does not wake up to the brimming
crisis, he rued.