At May Day Park on Arunachal Road in Chintadripet, a young woman constable in plain clothes functions as a gate-keeper, letting into the facility only those visitors who have turned up wearing face masks. Those without a mask are provided with one and let in, only after they have put on the proffered mask and their hands are sanitised. To regulate walkers and ensure COVID-appropriate behaviour, the local police are keeping a watch at busy parks. Greater Chennai Corporation’s parks at Chintadripet, near Rajarathinam Stadium in Egmore, Ethiraj Salai, Kamaraj Salai (Beach Road), Wallajah Road and PS Sivaswamy Salai are among facilities where police personnel are attending to this work. Parks in Chennai opened on June 14 with a restriction on timings — from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. “Walkers are aware of the current scenario and thankfully, we do not have to tell much about the safety measures, except for asking them to avoid walking in groups,” says C Subramanian, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Egmore and Triplicane. Visitors are not allowed to walk in groups and chat inside the premises.
Children are allowed to spend time but are not allowed to use the play equipment. In some of the parks, members of residents welfare associations, in coordination with the local civic officials, have started to regulate visitors.
On an average, each walking spot has four police personnel including women constables. In parks, two police personnel were deployed at the entrance and inside the parks. Along with the common market and the fish market, the May Day park in Chintadripet was closed during the intense lockdown last month. During the first wave last year, the park also served as a temporary common market for residents in the neighbourhood to ensure social distancing.
