Come this Sunday and the Anna Nagar Main Road will turn into traffic-free playground for three hours beginning 6 a.m. The Madurai Corporation is all set to give the residents a different experience of streets as safe place for fun and relaxed gathering.
“Streets are a city’s largest public space but we are so used to,” says Sandeep Nanduri, the Corporation Commissioner, “seeing them as congested places.” “The aim is to keep all vehicles out and allow the public in,” he adds.
The Happy Street concept is not new. Several cities across India including Kolkata, Pune, Thane, Ahmedabad have been successfully implementing it while places like Chennai and Coimbatore have introduced car-free Sundays. This is the first such initiative in Madurai. And the Corporation Commissioner assures it would be dedicated to fun and fitness and the people will get their share of road space without any tension or hassle. “Come and join the carnival,” is his request to the people of Madurai where “ Vandiye Varathu Vandu Vilayadu ” is the slogan doing the rounds.
To begin with, Happy Street will come to different areas on the first Sunday of every month beginning tomorrow (April 2). Families and people of all ages can simply get out in the middle of the street to walk, run, jog, dance, bicycle, sing, skate or play. “The idea is to socialise comfortably and safely with elements of entertainment thrown in,” says Sandeep.
Gomathy, who stays in Anna Nagar, says she has heard about the Happy Street in her area on Sunday and would definitely check it out. “It will be like another Chithirai Thiruvizha I think”, she says.
So the stretch between Ambika Theatre and Golcha complex on Anna Nagar Eighty Feet Road is expected to reverberate with sounds of laughter, banter and music in an environment free of vehicle honks and exhaust. The road will perhaps get converted into a mobile entertainment park what with an exciting line up of activities that include fitness dance, zumba, aerobics, yoga, silambattam, live band and game shows by radio jockeys. A host of games including basketball, football, volleyball, jumping ball, badminton, carom, rope pulling, archery, skipping, push-ups, hoola hoops, Frisbee can be enjoyed by the participants who can either be on their own or take help from the coaches available at the venue.
The road will also have stalls by the corporation to disseminate social and environment-friendly messages like plastic ban and healthy eating. People dropping in are free to choose from activities organised by the Corporation to kick start the idea of Happy Street in the city or engage themselves in any manner they wish to.
Basically the whole idea is to usher in an uplifting mood and give people the right to come together on a space that is rightfully theirs. All you need are a pair of feet and a heart that beats for what is good for your city. So bring it on – with a big smile. The result will surely be a delight.
