Fitness freaks sweat it out as Jubilee Park reopens after 16 months

Jamshedpur: Fitness freaks in the Steel City have got a new reason to cheer, as the iconic Jubilee Park opened up for the visitors from Thursday. Closed since March 2020, the morning walkers, joggers and the yoga enthusiasts in particular were disappointed to miss out on their daily dose of exercise in the open green.
“The park is now open for the people to visit but there are certain SOPs that the visitors have to follow,” said state health minister Banna Gupta, who reopened the gates of the park.
DC Suraj Kumar said there was a demand from the citizens to open the park for quite some time. “ The state government’s unlock guidelines have been followed while opening the park,” Kumar said.
The park will be open to the visitors from 5am to 9am and then again from 4pm to 7pm everyday.
Visitors will require to carry their Aadhaar card and mobile phone to register themselves before entering the park. “Identity proof and residential address of the visitors are required for contact tracing in the event of any visitor found infected by Covid-19,” the DC said explaining the purpose of collecting personal details of the visitors.
“Vehicular traffic is not allowed inside the park for the time being as per the direction of the district administration,” said Tarun Daga, the MD of Tata Steel Utilities and Infrastructure Services Ltd (formerly Jusco), which is the custodian of the park.
Expressing delight on the reopening of the park, a Kasidih resident, Dev Kumar (46), said, “Jubilee Park is an ideal place for a workout and also to meet friends.” He said he missed the green lungs of the city for the past 16 months.
Modelled after Vrindavan Gardens, the Jubilee Park was opened by Tata Steel in 1958 on the occasion of the city’s golden jubilee. “After the closure of the park (due to lockdown), we realised its importance in our lives,” said a Kadma resident and stock trader, Subrato Sarkar (38), who was a regular at the park till it was closed for the public.
Notably, since the state government gave the permission for the reopening of parks on June 21, there’s been an increasing demand from the local people to reopen the Jubilee Park, following which the district administration asked the company to open the gates to the visitors.