BHOPAL: Ekant Club, an organisation of the city residents who take their morning and evening walks and exercise in the sprawling park located on Link Road Number 3, has demanded that an open gym be installed at the Park to boost their immunity in corona times.
The members of the club have written a letter to urban development minister Bhupendra Singh raising the demand.
Ekant Park, also known as Guru Govind Singh Park, is one of the 12 parks in Bhopal, maintained by the Forest Division of the Capital Project Administration (CPA). Spread over an area of 80 acres, it came into existence in 1996.
The Club’s President Mahendra Dave told Free Press that Ekant Park is huge – in fact it is the largest public garden in the city or may be the state and around 700 persons of all age groups visit it daily. They all are worried for their fitness and are avoiding visiting conventional gyms due to the fear of contracting Covid-19. They want an open gym to be set up in the park so that they can work out and boost their immunity.
“In these Corona times, everyone wants to boost their immunity. And I think a park is the best place for that as people can walk and exercise there while maintaining social distancing,” he says.
“All parks run by the Bhopal Municipal Corporation have open gyms. Then shouldn’t this park also have it,” he asks. And that’s why they have written to the urban development minister demanding setting up of an open gym in the park, he says, adding. they have submitted the letter to the minister’s office and would be meeting him soon.
Besides open gyms, they have also demanded more swings and slides in the park for children. “Nowadays, schools are closed. So a large number of children also visit the park. There are swings and slides in the park but they are not enough,” he says.
