Bangalore fights to stay green

Bangalore: Bangalore's Garden City tag has been a little dusty off late, with thousands of trees lost to road-widening and infrastructure projects.

People living near a Bangalore park, soon to be the location of a war memorial, filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) against the project. But the High Court has ruled that the memorial can and will go ahead.

Sajan Poovayya, lawyer for the project said, "We at the National Military Memorial Committee welcome that judgement. The Honourable High Court has considered all aspects of the matter and has come to a conclusion that the military memorial being constructed at the Indira Gandhi Musical Fountain Park is not illegal in any manner."

But some do believe the memorial would be a violation of the Parks Preservation Act - and they still hope to prevail.

"We are very disappointed with the judgement, we are slightly shocked. There is a law for this purpose of preventing the use of a public park for anything else," said Mohandas Pai,Infosys.

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"The legal recourse is - Special Leave Petition to the Supreme Court. We need to study the judgement," added BC Thiruvengadam, advocate for the petitioners.

Those using the park say they would miss the trees.

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"To cut them down and make it into a war memorial I don't think is a good idea. It could be done somewhere else and leave this park for the enjoyment of people who walk here - the children who play," said Sheela Panicker, a walker.