Patna, Dec. 4: Patliputra resident Nupur Priya is all "pumped up" about signing up for a gym.

A third open-air gym will be started at Gandhi Maidan in a fortnight, and this one will be for women only.

"The private gyms charge exorbitantly and this kind of open gym will be a huge relief for homemakers, who cannot join private gyms because of the fees," Nupur said. "I have been jogging for eight years and never thought about joining any gym because of the money which I would have to shell out for joining them. Now that the city will have a dedicated gym for women, people would definitely join it."

There are two open gyms at Gandhi Maidan that can be used by both men and women. While one is situated in front of the SBI building on the western side of the ground, the other is situated in front of Mona theatre, on the eastern part of the Maidan. According to sources, the two open gyms have only around 100 members, including around 40 women.

Divisional commissioner Anand Kishor said: "Ladies need to pay Rs 100 as a registration fee in addition to another Rs 100 as monthly fee for being able to work out. Ladies need to visit my office (divisional commissioner office) to get the membership. You need to carry a photocopy of your Aadhaar card or any other identity proof along with three pictures."

"The ladies' open gym will be covered with poly sheets so that ladies can work out without any hesitation. We received complaints from many ladies that they were not very comfortable working out with men in the existing two open gyms. So we are going to start this gym," said Kishor.

He said the ladies' gym, which would come up at an investment of around Rs 18 lakh, will have around 15 instruments, including air walker, sky walker, rowing machine, leg extension, leg curl, shouldetwister, body twister and other workout equipment. He said from Friday, the registrations had been opened for the upcoming facility and around 30 women got themselves enrolled in the facility.

"There will be lady trainers in the gym. It would run in two shifts - two hours each in the morning and evening. However, the timings have not been decided yet," he added.

Women, naturally, hailed the initiative.

Nupur's friend Shalini Sinha, who lives on Boring Road, said: "The best part is that we don't have to work out indoors but on a lush green space."