Just like gyms and parks in the city, Kukkarahalli Lake and Manasagangotri campus will also be out of bounds for morning and evening walkers for at least a fortnight.
A decision to close the two till March 31 was taken at a meeting chaired by Vice-Chancellor of University of Mysore Hemanth Kumar to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Hundreds of people make a beeline to Kukkarahalli Lake and Manasagangotri campus in the morning and evening for walking and jogging.
While Kukkarahalli Lake is estimated to attract about 4,000 people every day, Manasagangotri campus too had emerged as one of the preferred open spaces in the city for morning walks, particularly after the centenary clock tower resembling the Big Ben was constructed in 2015.
The Manasagangotri campus is believed to draw as many people as the nearby Kukkarahalli Lake does.
Registrar of University of Mysore Shivappa R. told The Hindu that the decision was taken on the same lines as the decision of the authorities to close parks.
With almost all the gyms in the city remaining closed since the last few days, a large number of fitness enthusiasts had flocked to Kukkarahalli lake and Manasagangotri campus on Monday morning. However, the walkers and joggers who turned up at the lake on Monday evening, were greeted with a notice board put up at the entrance that the premises will be out of bounds till March 31 in view of the virus scare.
However, no decision has been taken on closure of Oval grounds in front of Crawford Hall, the University authorities said.
The other lung spaces such as Karanji Nature Park and Lingambudhi Lake too have been shut.
Double scare
The Forest Department said the Lingambudhi Lake, which also used to attract a number of morning walkers and joggers, had been closed till March 22 as a precautionary measure against not only the virus outbreak, but also bird flu scare.
