Overview
- Thousands of residents, RWAs, environmental campaigners and BJP MPs staged the “Walk in Lalbagh. Walk for Lalbagh” on Sunday, August 30, to oppose the recently passed Parks (Preservation) amendment.
- The Karnataka Government Parks (Preservation) (Amendment) Bill, 2026 was passed by the state legislature and permits government entities to alienate up to five percent of a protected park’s area for specified public-utility projects.
- The amendment creates an evaluation panel led by the Additional Chief Secretary and says routine Horticulture Department works do not count toward the five percent ceiling.
- Protesters tied the law to a proposed 17-kilometre Hebbal–Central Silk Board tunnel that organisers say could need roughly five acres of Lalbagh with other reports citing about six acres temporarily and one acre permanently.
- Opposition leaders have petitioned Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot to withhold assent and one opposition MP has reported that the bill was returned to the assembly; organisers say the movement will continue and legal and political escalation is likely if assent is given.