Citizens Demand All-Day Park Access in Bengaluru Amid Rising Heat

Residents in South Bengaluru, supported by the NGO HeatWatch Foundation, have petitioned local MLA C.K. Ramamurthy to mandate all-day access to public parks as a critical climate adaptation and public health measure. Despite a 2024 order from the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike requiring parks to remain open from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m., many facilities continue to close during peak afternoon hours between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. The petition argues that these closures fail to address administrative challenges like staffing or security while disproportionately affecting vulnerable groups, including delivery personnel, street vendors, sanitation workers, and construction laborers. Instead of finding relief, these individuals are forced to seek inadequate shelter outside park boundaries. The foundation emphasizes that parks serve as essential cooling spaces in dense urban neighborhoods, mitigating the worsening effects of climate change and the urban heat island phenomenon. With temperatures rising significantly in the city, the demand highlights the urgent need for accessible public infrastructure to protect outdoor workers and daily wagers from extreme heat exposure, urging authorities to enforce existing mandates rather than restricting access during the hottest parts of the day.