Patna: Gandhi Maidan is finally free from bikes and four-wheelers. Security guards have been deployed and all the gates have been closed, prohibiting vehicles from entering the iconic 62-acre ground.
Patna divisional commissioner Anand Kishor had on Tuesday banned the entry of vehicles into Gandhi Maidan after The Telegraph highlighted how the beautification work at the ground was suffering because motorists were riding roughshod over the morrum pathway/jogging track and damaging the newly laid tiles.
Kishor heads the Sri Krishna Smarak Vikas Samiti which is responsible for the maintenance and beautification of Gandhi Maidan.
Morning walkers on Wednesday, free from pesky motorists honking and interrupting their fitness regime, also praised the quick action of the administration.
“Earlier, there was always a fear of meeting with an accident as the bikers and car drivers used to ride their vehicles over it but thank god the nuisance is no more,” said Sudha Singh, a morning walker.
In the morning when visitors reached the ground on their bikes, they found the Maidan gates shut. Many such visitors asked the private security guards why the gates were shut. “It seems you people do not read the newspapers. Vehicles are banned inside Gandhi Maidan. If you want to go inside the ground, first park the vehicles outside and then go,” a security guard told a biker.
The visitor initially tried to laugh it off as a joke, and tried to go inside on his bike. A verbal altercation ensued but the guard held firm, insisting that bikers were free to go inside minus their bikes. Eventually, the bikers had to park outside.
The Sri Krishna Smarak Vikas Samiti responsible is spending Rs 3 crore on the beautification work and currently the installation of the jogging track (morrum pathway), chequered tiles and paver blocks is going on.
However, the work was being badly affected bikes and even four-wheelers were damaging the material.
A “Disneyland fair” is on at the Gandhi Maidan — which the city administration wants to develop as a town square — but after Kishor’s orders on Tuesday the fair organisers have fenced their parking area. Kishor has also instructed to open temporary outposts at Gate numbers 5 and 6 and the proposal would be sent to home department in next two days.
Kishor is scheduled to inspect the ground in next two to three days.
The contractor responsible for executing the work thanked Kishor for the prompt action.
“Had the report been published earlier, it would have saved my time and money. But I am happy that finally a system has been put in place,” said Shiv Shankar Prasad, the contractor.