ARINDAM GANGULY, OP
BHUBANESWAR: While health is wealth, an active schedule is one guarantee to a healthy life. Physical exercises are the way forward especially in these days of unregulated food habits. Hi-tech gymnasiums are springing up in various city centres, offering high octane exercise machines for the citizens’ daily workout routine. There however are constraints. For many, the machines are not giving them an easy way to do their daily workouts; and for several others, the monthly fee is unaffordable. All things considered, there now are a good number of people who prefer Open Air Gyms. These are located in 15 community parks in the city, offering citizens a “perfect way” of remaining healthy. Being in the open air is being close to nature, and this is of special interest to many. The Open Air Gyms are operated by the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA), in what is seen as one best foot forward by the government entity.
The first such facility was set up at Buddha Jayanti Park two years ago. More facilities followed in other parks in due course. BDA decided on the gyms scheme as it was found that most citizens were not having a healthy lifestyle, and their bulging bodies and expanding waistlines were hints for health problems in the future. “There has been a dramatic rise in the footfalls in the park once the gyms were set up, and people from all walks of life are using the equipment to their best advantage,” BDA sources
monitoring the systems note. The open air gyms now exist at parks like the Madhusudan Park in Pokhariput, the Kharvel Nagar Park in Unit III, the Kharavel Park in Khandagiri, the Kalpana Park in Kalpana Area, the Harekrushna Mahatab Park at BJB College Arts Block, the Dumuduma Phase III Park, the Biju Patnaik Park in Forest Park Area, the Indira Gandhi Park near the Secretariat, the Kelucharan Park at Gadakana, the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Park in Satsang Vihar, the Judhisthira Das Park in N-3 IRC Village, the Gopabandhu Nagar Park in Unit VIII, the Dharma Vihar Park in Jagamara and the Sailashree Vihar park in Sailashree Vihar.
People of different age-groups arrive in these parks every day, do a bit of walking, and engage in workout in the open gyms. The facilities at the gyms include light exercise machines and equipment like air walker, sit-up bench, air swing, twister, set-back or glider, pushand-pull chair, knee/hip raise on parallel bars, shoulder wheel, spinner, bench with fixed dumbbell, bench with fixed weight lift and poles with fixed weight. These gyms are providing free service, which is an added attraction. Sanat Kumar Mohanty, a retired employee who worked in the Secretariat, comes regularly to the open air gym in IG Park. “These gyms are very useful and motivate people to visit parks regularly. These gyms are situated close to habitations and housing colonies, and hence are easily
accessible,” he noted. Sushant Kumar Mullick, a student of Utkal Univeristy, said he comes to the park specially for doing his exercises in the open air gym. “The private sector gyms are very expensive and their equipments are not easy for us to handle. In the open air gyms, you can do your exercise for any length of time. The parks where these gyms are located are opened very early in the morning, and this is of help to the morning walkers and those who have to go for work during day time, in particular. Abhinash Das, another visitor to the open air gym who is a B.Tech student and resident of Unit-VIII area, noted that the gyms suited old-age people and children better. “It is also a nice place for hangout. It would be nice if there are more of equipment in the open air gyms. Sometimes, visitors have to wait for their turn because there is a lack of enough facilities.” Laxmi Priya Dhal, a housewife and resident of Kalinga Vihar, noted that she and her eight-year-old son Prateek Pritam Dhal come regularly to the park and do small exercises in a playful manner. “Children nowadays are not used to visiting parks as they are more interested in watching TV and video games. We as parents must understand that if children at a tender age get addicted to TV and games, their physical and mental development will suffer. For this reason, they must be encouraged to go to parks and recreational centres,” she proposed. Prakash Das, a businessmanfrom Unit-I area, said initiatives like the open air gyms are the best way for citizens to maintain a healthy lifestyle. “In cities like Bhubaneswar, we are now slowly but steadily trying to promote the concept of physical fitness. The Patha Utsav organised by BMC every Sunday to promote physical fitness and activities is admirable.”
Another gym visitor Bijay Majhi said proper maintenance of these parks is vital. “We have seen that civic initiatives fail after some time, as the authority fails to work constantly and leaves things unattended. Proper maintenance of the park as well as the gym equipment is very much necessary.” Dr. Kanchan Ray, a resident of Pokhariput, says, “The number of stress-related diseases is on the rise. If we exercise on a daily basis, then we can actually delay or even get rid of such threats in the future. So, this initiative by the BDA to make people exercise has turned out to be a very well-planned strategy to make the city livable and smart.” “The BDA has many plans in the pipeline, such as launching a Public Bicycle Sharing System with 1,200 cycles through 120 docking stations across the capital. This would add to the ongoing initiatives to make Bhubaneswar healthier and fit,” said Sudhiranjan Mohanty, member (planning), BDA. BDA is planning three Smart Parks in Sahid Nagar. Of this, one will have the open air gym facility in order to give the people of the Smart District a smarter and healthier environment to keep themselves more active and fit.”
