Open sites in Guntur turn into walking tracks

Novel initiative by GMC and welfare associations bears results

Residents from various colonies have welcomed the initiative to convert open spaces into walking tracks like this one at Gujjangundla in Guntur. Photo: T. Vijayakumar

Community open sites nestled among residential colonies are now being converted into walking tracks.

Walking tracks have come up at Gujjangundla, Koretipadu, Vidya Nagar, Nallacheruvu, Chuttugunta, RTC Colony and Housing Board Colony at Nallapadu as men and women have been making changes in their lifestyle to include a daily regimen of morning and evening walks. Some of them have a play-pen and a reading room for senior citizens.

Residential welfare associations and Guntur Municipal Corporation have come together in a novel initiative to turn unused spaces into beautiful walking tracks.

“We have 350 members in the association. People are realising the importance of exercise after concerns about sedentary lifestyle leading to many diseases,” said president of Koretipadu Walkers Association, Ch. Seetharamaiah.

In Vidya Nagar, residents have come together to turn a community site into a beautiful park-cum-walking track. The GMC put up a fence and laid the drains while the residents collected money to lay a walking track. “This initiative has helped us to prevent the sites from being encroached besides providing some open lung spaces in the congested colonies. Maintenance of open sites is also becoming a major problem with these vacant sites becoming a breeding ground for mosquitoes,” said Superintendent Engineer of GMC, Adiseshu.