The Chennai Corporation has been doing its best to provide people-friendly facilities in the neighbourhood.
But unfortunately, many such amenities are misused, so to speak. One such space is the gym at Shasthri Nagar. According to sources, this place is open from 5.30 am, sometimes a little earlier than that. It is located in a large playground. The person who comes to clean the ground and the gym, sees the same sight every day- food packets on the benches, beer bottles strewn on the steps and maybe a shirtless man sleeping.
Mahesh Kumar, an advocate and a sports coach says, “I come here everyday to train my students- both boys and girls. I have been complaining about the lack of proper lighting at the ground for a long time now. They should put a new light near the gym as well, since activities like drinking take place here after 7 pm. It is pitch dark after dusk.”
“Every morning, the benches are dirty. I dont know if people come here for workouts or for drinking. I have often seen a man lying here with just his pants. It is embarrassing for me and the girl students. We desperately need LED lighting. Also, they switch off the existing lights as early as 5.30 am, which causes a lot of inconvenience,” he adds.
Few others allege that the equipment in the gym is broken. Baskaran, a resident of the locality states, “It was badly misused. I know people who took some of the items and sold them off.”