Post Bowring fiasco, clubs watch members’ locker use

As bags stuffed with cash and gold tumbled out of the Bowring Institute lockers, other clubs in the city are starting to keep a vigil on their members.

A few of them have tightened the rules, while others are figuring out ways to regulate the use of lockers in their premises.

“The time has come for the club committee to decide on bringing in stricter rules,” said a member of the club management of the city’s most famous Bangalore Club.

“We’ll bring in stricter laws, though we haven’t come across a case where a member has stashed his belongings illegally,” he added, admitting clubs cannot micro-manage the members and members alone should act responsibly.

“We have allotted a locker to each member and don’t check their personal belongings, but ask them to vacate the locker whenever we need to
conduct periodical checks,” he said. An office bearer of the Bangalore Golf Club management said they do not fear fraudulent behaviour. “We check the lockers every week for any unattended personal things,” he said. “If there’s something fishy, we’ll come to know. Also, the locker sizes (here) are so small that members can only store clothes, watches and gym robes.”

Clear out daily: Indiranagar club

President of the Indiranagar club B N S Reddy said emptying the lockers daily would stop such frauds. “We offer a locker key if our members want to use it. The marker will have a spare key. Once the member is done with their work, they should hand over the keys to us. This
procedure ensures there are no illegal activities,” he said.

No personal lockers: Malleswaram club

The Malleswaram club, with a long history since 1934, offers no personal locker facility. “We never allow members to touch the lockers. We collect their personal belongings, store them in a locker and issue a token. We’ve been doing this for 10 or 12 years now,”
said a club management member.

No such facilities: Sadashivanagar club

No such worries for the Sadashivanagar club, where fewer members show up since it does not have a swimming pool or facilities to stay. “We get lots of phone calls,” said the manager. “The moment we say there’s no swimming pool in the club premises, they lose interest. So, where’s the question of chaos in the use of lockers?”