With the nonchalance of the authorities, most of the open air gyms in parks across Dwarka are in bad shape. The equipments are damaged and they are injuring people who use it. There are also equipments which are not functioning and hence they cannot be used by people.
Hundreds of such open air gyms are there in the DDA parks and in the parks under South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC).
A resident of Sector-14, Rashi Gupta, said, “In the neighbourhood park of SDMC, there is an open gym where many types of equipment are damaged. The cross trainer and the wheel machines are damaged. About three weeks back, the shoulder exercise machine got broken. Nobody is there to take this into concern. Unless repaired, we cannot use those machines.”
Such damaged machines can be easily seen in the parks at Sector-4, Sector-6, Sector-10, Sector-12, Sector-13, Sector-14 etc. Shubhra Upadhyay, a resident of Sector-12, uses the open air gym in DDA Park regularly. Recently, she got injured while using the machine because of the loose pedestal.
Upadhyay said, “The pedestal of the cross trainer was loose. I was using it carefully but still I got hurt. I don’t know whom to approach for this. But, this must be repaired as soon as possible.”
The open gyms have become very popular in the area. People of the area are using them regularly. With the time, the number of gyms has increased. According to sources, there are more than 50 such gyms in the public parks. But, the maintenance of the gyms is still a big question in front of the community and also the authority.
“DDA made such gyms in Dwarka earlier and the work was done by a company. That company had the responsibility to maintain the gyms. Now, the gyms have not been maintained for more than three years.” According to DDA, they are not going to further make gyms in the area.
On the other hand, such open gyms are increasing in the parks of Municipal Corporation. According to officials, the maintenance of such gyms is yet to be defined. “We do it sometimes on complaints but there is no proper system for maintenance,” said an official on the condition of anonymity.
