Chennai: The state govt has opened the city’s second 8-km walking path at Avadi under the “Nadapom Nalamperuvom” scheme on Friday even as the first one at Adyar is a mess.Regular walkers say the walking path from Adyar along Besant Avenue, on which 1.5 crore was spent two years ago and inaugurated by Udhayanidhi Stalin, has turned into an obstacle course of parked bikes and eateries.“We started using this walking path because we don’t have good footpaths in the city. Now, we dodge parked two-wheelers and makeshift eateries throughout the path. Messages blare out from the billboards around the path stating footpaths are for walkers, but no one cares,” said R Sumathy, a retired banker. “I stopped using the path now,” she said. On Friday, Health minister Ma Subramanian on Friday unveiled the second phase of the “Nadapom Nalamperuvom” scheme across all districts. “This is not the only path for walking. This path is created for awareness and encouraging people to walk,” Subramanian said, after inaugurating the new track at Avadi.Under the scheme, free screening camps are also organised for non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and hypertension every month. “So far, 7,500 new cases were diagnosed through such tests,” Subramanian added.
