Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar announced that all 1,200 neighbourhood parks in Bengaluru will now remain open from 5 am to 10 pm daily, accommodating citizens’ long-standing request for extended hours. Previously, parks were open from 5 am to 10 am and from 1:30 pm to 8 pm. This change aims to provide better access to working individuals who couldn’t visit the parks due to restrictive timings.
Shivakumar, also in charge of Bengaluru development, instructed the municipal body to repair dysfunctional street lights and deploy security personnel to safeguard these open spaces. He dismissed concerns about parks being misused in the afternoons, emphasizing that the benefits of extended hours outweigh the potential issues.
Additionally, Shivakumar launched a mapathon initiative to involve community members in identifying potential green spaces on empty sites, with a pilot currently underway in the Bommanahalli zone. The tree census is progressing, with 94,000 trees enumerated so far, and the BBMP aims to plant two lakh saplings this year, involving schools and children in the effort.