Leave Jogger's Park, Bandra tells BMC

"We should save our park," said an evening walker while signing a petition to protect the Jogger's Park in Bandra. Residents of the tony suburb have been sitting in the park for two hours every day urging visitors to sign the petition to protest against the park being taken over by the civic body for maintenance.

Residents say the well-maintained park, which was developed on a dumpyard at Carter Road, will not remain citizen-friendly if it's taken over by the BMC from the Suburban Civic Forum Trust.

On February 1, when walkers entered the park, they were shocked to see a board declaring that BMC would henceforth maintain the park. Surindra Khubchandani, a Bandra resident, said, "We hope that the signature campaign helps us save the park. It has already been taken over by BMC since February 1. We don't think they will be able to maintain the security and greenery of the park."

Residents say other parks maintained by the BMC are often visited by anti-social elements.

Shyama Kulkarni, social activist and resident of Bandra, said, "We have filed the petition online and offline. We have got over 3,200 signatures online and over 3,500 offline. We will be collecting over 10,000 signatures before we meet the Chief Minister."