After meeting a delegation of gym owners who complained of fitness centres being sealed in residential areas, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Puri on Tuesday said he had asked the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to amend the Master Plan of Delhi-2021 to allow the gyms to function.
In a series of tweets, Mr. Puri said Delhi BJP leaders and a delegation of the Delhi Gym Owners’ Association had met him on Tuesday and informed him of the sealing of gyms in residential areas.
“We live in a New India where tremendous emphasis is laid on health & fitness. Our sporting champions too have changed the global narrative on India’s collective fitness as a nation. People of all ages head to their fitness & yoga centres, first thing in the morning. (sic),” he said.
He added that it was imperative that fitness and yoga centres are located at a walking distance for Delhiites. The Minister said he had directed the DDA vice-chairperson to make sure that “an amendment to this effect is expeditiously moved in MPD-2021 so that citizens can continue to live and exercise in close vicinity”.
Gym owners had raised the issue earlier this week, saying that on orders of the Supreme Court-appointed Monitoring Committee, gyms opened in residential areas after August 12, 2008, were being sealed. This, they had said, affected the livelihoods of thousands of people.
