Drop in at Cubbon Park 2.1

BANGALORE: A few months back, City Express had reported on the initiatives undertaken by the Public Works department (PWD) in association with the State Horticulture department on the pond widening works at Cubbon park. Now, on a recommendation from the noted environmentalist, Yellapa Reddy, they have zeroed on to building a pathway of more than two kilometres to the pond, which will begin on April 25 and completed by May 31.The pond widening work was taken up with an estimated budget of `20 lakh and is expected to be completed by April 20. Executive Engineer of PWD, Shiv Shankar informed City Express, “We are constructing an entrance to the pond which will facilitate the visitors  to take a walk all and also add to the beautification of the park.”“We have also taken up two major projects of storm water drains. Although in existence, we have taken up the works of deepening the drains further, since the waste accumulated have choked up the drains and blocked the free flow of water. Many a time, this has led to floods in the area. An amount of `19 lakh has been sanctioned for the storm water drains work that starts from Century Club and `18 lakh has been finalised for the storm water drains starting from BDA plant near Hudson Road,” added the Executive Engineer. The enviromentalist informed City Express, “The landscape of Cubbon Park does not have an excellent drainage slope. Hence, I suggested the slope to be utilised to harness rain water to facilitate inflitration.  We are creating a porous structure of 8-10 metres width surrounding the lawn. This will give the park a gentle drainage slope and the rain water will be trapped inside the park itself, thereby, facilitate the growth of the plants and providing adequate water.”