KSLTA lease threatens Cubbon Park?

By Divya Sreedharan

BANGALORE, OCT. 22. Is Cubbon Park being eaten away insidiously? That is the question causing concern among the City's green watchers.

The issue has become all the more pressing because it is time for the renewal of one particular lease -- that of the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association, or the KSLTA.

The KSLTA lease inside the Cubbon Park is up for renewal. The association Secretary, Mr. C.S. Sunder Raju, says an application for renewal was submitted late last year, and a Government order is awaited.

The original 25-year agreement between the KSLTA and the Horticulture Department was begun in effect in 1972. But, a GO amended it to August 12, 1976. The lease ended two months ago.

The KSLTA's existence inside the park has not been an uneventful one. There have been court cases, mainly because the lease stipulated that the land be used for ``construction of the tennis stadium... for playing tennis and conducting tennis tournaments. If it is used for any purpose other than tennis stadium, it shall revert to the Horticulture Department...''.

Environmentalists point out that in the past, music programmes have been held there. But the Horticulture Department took no action. Besides, the lease requires the KSLTA to pay only a nominal sum of Rs. 1,000 each year. ``But now, the KSLTA has its own club on the premises where the membership fee is Rs. 70,000,'' sources point out.

More land needed: Just a fortnight ago, there was a controversy when the Horticulture Department asked the Indira Priyadarshini Children's Library (inside the park) to move out. The reason was that the horticulture section -- at present in the KSLTA basement -- required new premises so that the KSLTA could take over the basement. Incidentally, the Chief Minister, Mr. S.M. Krishna, is the KSLTA President!

According to Mr. Sunder Raju, the KSLTA's need is legitimate. ``The eastern wing of the stadium can take up to 2,300 people. But it has no proper access because the Horticulture Department is located there. Now, the crowd has to go through another gate,'' he explains.

This lack of access leads to security risks, especially when international tournaments are played to full-capacity crowds. ``There is no way to evacuate all these people in case there is a security breach,'' he says.

Horticulture officials are tight-lipped on the matter. The Joint Director (Administration), Mr. Atmaramaiah, maintains that such issues are decided by the Government. ``The case is with the Under Secretary to Government,'' he says, declining to comment further.

Slow erosion: Environmentalists are worried that such loosely- followed agreements will slowly ``eat up'' Cubbon Park. ``Every successive government gifts some portion of the park,'' they allege. Examples of such ``officially sanctioned'' encroachments include the Karnataka Government Secretariat (KGS) Club and the High Court annexe.

It is true that Cubbon Park has shrunk. Even Horticulture officials admit that the park is now only 192 acres. When laid out in 1870-1875, it spread over 300 acres.

How much of this lung space will survive the next few years?

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