Jogging and running in Hyderabad’s Osmania University campus may cost you Rs 200 per month, as the university has decided to charge people for using their campus. Excluding students, all those who walk though the campus will be charged Rs 200 from December 1, reports Telangana Today. The university has also decided to charge people coming from outside, and those who are not students or university staff employees, for using the gym premises and the playgrounds for different sports.
According to a report in Telangana Today, a former professor who is now retired said that such a proposal had been planned earlier too, to levy monthly charges on people who use the university premises for exercising, walking and any fitness activities. The Vice-Chancellors of the university told Telangana Today that the walkers themselves had offered to pay for using the campus, in lieu of better facilities on the grounds.
According to reports, the Osmania University’s lush campus is one of the main green lungs for many living around it, in areas like Tarnaka, DD Colony, Vidya Nagar, Manikeshwar Nagar, Adikmet, Habsiguda and Amberpet. Every day, several fitness enthusiasts and walkers come to the university as it is the only area where a big playground and greenery conducive for exercise is available.
Several morning and evening walkers have expressed their unhappiness with the university’s decision. Authorities said that the playground and tracks at the university shall be open for the public during two sessions, once in the morning and one in the evening.
Besides catering to athletes and cricketers in Hyderabad, Osmania University’s grounds are also used by police and armed forces aspirants to carry out fitness training routines. Not just OU students, students and staff from other state and central educational institutions in the neighbourhood also use the grounds for physical activity purposes.