Here’s some good news for fitness enthusiasts. At least 26 parks in the city are set to have open-air gymnasiums. While 20 will come up in Krishnaraja constituency, six will be in Chamaraja segment.
Work on developing the gyms — similar to those under private ownership here — will begin soon as the tender process has been finalised. Each gym will be developed at a cost of ₹2 lakh to ₹9 lakh, depending on the size of the park and the number of visitors it attracts.
The Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) is developing the parks from the MLAs’ local area development funds. With the gyms under private ownership unaffordable for many, the concept of developing open-air gyms was proposed.
MCC Commissioner G. Jagadeesha told The Hindu that the first such open-air gym facility was developed at the park near the Dr. Puttaraja Gawai Stadium in J.P. Nagar. There are four workout machines there, and the response from the public has been overwhelming, he said.
Given the response, more open-air gyms were proposed to help people improve their fitness, the Commissioner said, adding that more machines were being introduced at the gyms being developed in Chamaraja constituency.
Mr. Jagadeesha said the gyms would be user-friendly with easy-to-operate equipment. They will not require any shelter and can endure any weather. He said ₹2 lakh will be the minimum cost for a simple open-air gym.
On the matter of which parks the equipment will be set up, he said the decision would be taken by the MLAs as the funds are being released by them. The MCC will initiate work, but the list of parks maintained by the civic body have been provided to the MLAs, Mr. Jagadeesha said.
Transforming spaces under HT lines
The open space under high-tension lines under the MCC limits will be turned into parks with walking paths for residents.
Thanks to the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), an estimated ₹4 crore will be spent on turning unused open spaces into lung spaces by developing parks with ornamental plants.
Commissioner Jagadeesha said there are about 20 km of fenced open spaces under high-tension electricity lines left as they are for safety reasons. “As these areas are left unused, the MCC has decided to develop them into lung spaces. We got funds under AMRUT and the work is expected to be completed by June,” he said. Ramakrishna Nagar, Bogadi, Hebbal, Niveditha Nagar, CFTRI Layout, and N.R. Mohalla are among the areas where this will happen, the Commissioner added.
Published - February 08, 2018 11:30 pm IST
