Kengeri residents worried about the future of their playground, want CM to preserve it

Residents of Kengeri who had fought the government to preserve the only large playground in the area in 2009 are again afraid that efforts may be afoot to hand over the land to a private body. Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, who also holds charge of Bengaluru Development, will preside over a Cooperation Department event at the ground on Sunday and the residents want him to ensure the playground is not alienated. 

The 2.5 acre plot in Kengeri Satellite Town has functioned as a playground since the 1970s. Cricket players Anil Kumble and Venkatesh Prasad have played at the grounds, residents claimed. Listed as a Civic Amenity site, the government allotted the land to a religious institution in 2009, triggering protests from locals. “This is the only playground in the entire Kengeri Hobli. We then formed a Atada Maidana Horata Samiti, Kengeri, and organised several protests forcing the government to cancel the allotment. Later BDA invested on the playground, fenced it, and put up floodlights and has been functioning well since then,” said activist and resident of Kengeri B.M. Shivakumar. 

In June 2021, S.T. Somashekhar, Yeshwanthpur MLA, wrote to BDA requesting them to hand over the playground to Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) on the grounds that the development authority was cash-strapped. The playground could be developed with BBMP funds, he said. 

In December 2021, the BDA Board passed a resolution that the playground will be handed over to BBMP if it pays ₹9.61 crore for a lease of 30 years, as it was a CA site. Senior BBMP officials said such a proposal was unheard of and the civic body has never paid to get a playground from BDA. “After BDA develops a layout, it should hand over roads, parks, playgrounds to the civic body. This playground has remained with BDA for decades now and it is very unlikely BBMP will pay and take it on lease,” a senior official said. 

Mr. Shivakumar said the board’s was strange and had raised fears that the authority would hand over the land parcel to a private entity ready to pay the said lease amount. “Never has BBMP paid to take over a playground. We fear this is a way to reassert that the land parcel is a CA site and prepare ground for its allotment. We want the BDA to continue maintaining the playground,” he said. 

When contacted, BDA Commissioner M.B. Rajesh Gowda said he could only comment on the issue after checking on the specifics of the particular case.