Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Tuesday said an amendment will soon be brought in the Master Plan of Delhi to prevent relocation of fitness centres, including gyms, to commercial areas.
After meeting a delegation of Delhi BJP leaders headed by city unit chief Manoj Tiwari, the Union housing and urban affairs minister said the amendment will be brought in the next meeting of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA).
The Supreme Court-appointed monitoring committee had recently ordered sealing of all fitness centres which have come up in the national capital after August 12, 2008.
Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta and Delhi BJP general secretary Kuljeet Chahal were also part of the delegation.
"As far as commercial areas are concerned, gyms can operate. For residential areas, we are absolutely clear that there are much benefits of keeping gyms, yoga centres and meditation centres there," Puri told reporters after his meeting with the Delhi BJP leaders.
The minister said if these fitness centres are relocated to commercial areas, there will be pollution issues as people will have to cover a distance of 10-20 km for which they will have to drive to reach there.
"The DDA is responsible for amendments in the Master Plan and if there are any other changes, it is a responsibility of the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry," he said.
"As the minister of Housing and Urban Affairs, we took a decision yesterday. We are clear that in commercial areas, the fitness centres are allowed and a letter to this effect can go to the monitoring committee," Puri said.
"As far as those in residential areas are concerned, we will bring an amendment in the Master Plan. It will be brought very soon in the next meeting of the DDA to resolve this problem," he said.
The minister said he consulted the Lt governor, vice chairman of the DDA and public representatives over taking the decision about the amendment in the Master Plan.
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