At 6.30 am the winter chill is in the air, as several of the senior citizens, ensconced in sweaters make their way to Marutirao Gaikwad garden near police motor vehicle workshop, Aundh. A set of gym equipment glistened with dew drops, awaiting these regulars to begin their exercise. This has been the scene for the past two years, ever since this equipment made its appearance in the garden. This city now boasts of 120 open gymnasiums inside gardens and on wide footpaths.
“It was ex corporator Dattatreya Gaikwad who thought of getting these installed inside this garden, which initially drew parents with small children for playing, but with this free to use gym equipment, it has become easy for some us to follow a routine,” said Dr Pabhakar Ullangwar, a senior citizen living in Aundh and also vice president of the Aundh Jhest Nagarik Sangh, a senior citizens group.“I encourage seniors in my group to come and try out some of these equipments too. They are all well maintained and very easy to use. Some of us also know how to use these equipment but few of us feel that an instructor would help the first time to understand how to use these fitness machines,” he added. Like Dr Ullangwar, his colleagues begin with simple machine exercises of stretching leg and hand machine.
Sajid Sheikh who works in the Forensic laboratory on Raj Bhavan road and, lives in the quarters at Raj Bhavan road but prefers to come to this Aundh garden simply because he can exercise on the cross beams, or try out all the equipments for free. “The best part of coming here is that unlike other gymnasiums, this one is open on Sunday too and one can come here during the day or even in the evening until the garden closes,” said Sheikh.
{{/usCountry}}Sajid Sheikh who works in the Forensic laboratory on Raj Bhavan road and, lives in the quarters at Raj Bhavan road but prefers to come to this Aundh garden simply because he can exercise on the cross beams, or try out all the equipments for free. “The best part of coming here is that unlike other gymnasiums, this one is open on Sunday too and one can come here during the day or even in the evening until the garden closes,” said Sheikh.
{{/usCountry}}A resident of Navi Sanghavi, and far away from her home state of Mizoram, Maengi Colney, came to know of this open gymnasium by accident. “I used to bring my children to this park and had no idea that this open air gymnasium too was built and it was free to use. But looking at them every day, made me think of using them too and here I am, every day at 7 am, without fail to begin my exercise routine. What is best about this open air gymnasium is that one can breathe in the fresh air while exercising rather than stare at the stuffy walls of a gymnasium,” she added.
Similarly such open gyms have also been installed on a smaller scale on wider footpaths. There is one such gym in Bavdhan across Ram Nagar colony, painted in bright colours and it attracts a lot people, who are out of walks in the morning. Many teenagers are also seen enjoying on these exercise machines. Sayali Joshi is one such eager youth who loves to jump on the horse rider equipment. “I came across this open gym while jogging, hence I stopped to check it out and now I make it a point to come daily.”
Sanjay Kher a senior citizen loves this concept of open air gymnasium. ‘It Bavdhan gymnasium was installed about six months ago and has been great for people like us who can’t go to gymnasium anymore after 50 and these exercise machines help you to atleast keep fit and take care of your daily exercise routine,” said Kher.
Speaking to Ashok Ghorpade of Garden Department of Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), he said, “The concept of open gyms was Garden deaprtment’s idea. We had seen such concept of gyms in foreign countries where such equipment was set up next to jogging tracks so we decided to introduce it within the public gardens.”
The first open gymnasium came up in November of 2016 in Walvekar garden in Sahakar Nagar. The Garden department had installed all kinds of gym equipment like Air walker, Horse rider, Cross trainer, Single chest press, Inversion machine, pommel horse, push bars, single seated pullar, sitting and standing twister, sit up board double, Sky walker, Surf boards, Thi-Chi Spinner, bench with fixed dumbbell, and Knee hip riser.
“After an overwhelming response from the residents of Sahakar Nagar, we started looking at other gardens in the city and the then standing committee chairman Ashwini Kadam was so impressed that she sanctioned Rs one crore for spreading this concept across the city,” said Ghorpade.
Where there is dense population, there the open gyms are much in demand with people making a queue to use it, like in Aundh, Wadgaonsheri, Sarasbaug and Sambhaji Udyan.
The total maintenance for gym equipment across the city is Rs 8 to Rs 10 lakhs per year. Initially after the equipment is installed, the first two years are maintained by the equipment company.
Types of equipment installed by PMC at Open Gyms across the city
Air walker, Horse rider, Cross trainer, Single chest press, Inversion machine, pommel horse, push bars, single seated pullar, sitting and standing twister, sit up board double, Sky walker, Surf boards, Thi-Chi Spinner, bench with fixed dumbbell, and Knee hip riser
PMC run Open Gyms
Aundh Baner Ward
Shahu Maharaj Pakshi Vihar Kendra – Bopodi
Marutirao Gaikwad Udyan – Aundh
Jaibhavani Udyan – Pashan
Shivaji Nagar – Ghole road ward office
Pankuvar Firodia Spurti Udyan – Model colony
Chitranjan Vatika – Shivaji Nagar
Kamala Nehru Park – Erandwane
Madhavrao Shinde Udyan – Wakdewadi
Kothrud – Bavdhan ward
Sant Dyneshwar Udyan – Rambaug Colony
Nilu Phule Udyan – Mayur Colony
Tatyasaheb Thorat Udyan –Kothrud
Bharatratna Pandit Bhimsen Joshi Udyan – Bhusari colony
Dhole Patil road ward
Limca Jogging park – Bundgarden road
Shahu Modak Udyan – Koregaon Park
Damodar Wagaskar Udyan – Koregaon park lane no 6
Jayprakash Narayan Udyan – near Pune Railway station
Yerwada – Kalas – Dhanori Ward
Ayappa Uddyan – Tingare Nagar
Rohan Jagdish Shinde Udyan – Dhanori
Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Udyan – Phule nagar
Yashwantrao Chavan deshpremi udyan – Yerwada
Nagar road – Wadgaonsheri ward
Chandan Nagar Udyan, Chandan nagar
Viman Nagar Jogger’s park, Viman Nagar
Damodar Ravji Galinde Patil Udyan – Kalyani nagar
Raje Chatrapati Udyan – Bhrama suncity, Wadgaon Sheri
Bhavani Peth -Ward
Shri Akkalkot Swami Samarth Children’s garden – Bhavani Peth
Dr Shamrao Kalmadi Udyan – Ekbote colony.
Shrimant Bhairavsingh Ghorpade Udyan – Ghorpadi peth
Vishrambaug wada Ward
V D Vartak Udyan – Shaniwar peth
Maharana Pratap Udyan – Bajirao road
Lokmanya Nagar jogging park – Lokmanya nagar
Vijaynagar colony udyan – Vijaynagar
Bibvewadi ward
Srimati Gangubai bhimale udyan – Sandesh Society, Gultekdi
Matoshree Gayabai Bhanudas Vairage Udyan – Mira Society
Vithabai Pujari Udyan – Maharishi nagar
Hadapsar- Mundhwa Ward
Vithalrao Tupe Patil Udyan – Satavwadi, Hadapsar
Shahid Hemant Karkare Udyan – Satavwadi, Hadapsar
Shahid Abdul Hamid Ayurvedic udyan – Kausarbaug, Kondhwa
Vithalrao Shivarkar Udyan – Wanowrie
Kondhwa – Yevlewadi ward
Kakasaheb Gadgil Udyan – Padmavati
Vasantrao Eknath Bagul Udyan – Sahakar nagar
Shankarrao Ramchandra Tawre udyan – Tavre colony
Sinhagad Road ward
Pune Okayama friendship udyan – Sinhagad road
Sinhagad vikas Udyan – wadgaon budruk
Sarita Nagari – Sinhagad Road
Warje – Karve Nagar ward
Gangubai dhumal children’s garden – Ishan Nagari, Warje
H Bh P Janardhan Patelu choudhari udyan – Warje
Sahid Pradip Tathwade udyan – Karve Nagar
Dr Shamaprasad Mukherjee udyan – Patwardhan Baug
Sant Dynaneshwar Udyan – Erandwane