Police notices halt civic group’s walk to raise ‘awareness’ on impact of short tunnel

The civic group "Protect our lakes and green spaces" had planned a walk to raise awareness about the impact of a short tunnel project near Hebbal Lake. The project involved acquiring a portion of the lake land for the proposed tunnel between Hebbal and the Karnataka Veterinary, Animal and Fisheries Sciences University. Despite promoting the event as an awareness walk, the police reportedly issued notices stating it was a protest walk from Dairy Science College to Hebbal Lake via Bhoopasandra Main Road.

According to High Court directives, protests can only be held at Freedom Park, and any form of protest outside that venue would be considered an action. The police sent notices to activists from across the city, prompting the group to cancel the walk due to the risk of violating High Court directions. However, a few individuals still arrived at the venue on Sunday morning.

The civic group claimed that all entry gates to the Veterinary Sciences campus were locked, with police personnel deployed at the veterinary hospital and dairy sciences gates. The group accused the police of falsely claiming a large protest against the short tunnel project was being organized, while a few people did manage to walk from the Veterinary Sciences campus to Hebbal Lake.