Mumbai, Aug 23 (IANS) All bars here should be converted into yoga centres in order to have a better society and healthy living, said Baba Ramdev Saturday while laying the foundation stone of a yoga centre being built in the place of a nightclub that closed down four years ago.Ramdev, in his short speech, said: “I am very happy that a place which was being used for destructing people’s lives will now be used for making lives of various people happier and healthier.”

He said: “People who used to come here for lust and addiction will now be coming for meditation. And I say that all bars in Mumbai which cause no good to any person should be converted to these types of yoga centres.”

Ramdev lauded the efforts of Deputy Chief Minister R.R. Patil for banning dance bars here.

About the activities of the centre, Ramdev said: “It will consist of various types of physical and spiritual training including yoga, meditation and pranayam. We will also provide medical treatment at nominal cost and it will be absolutely free for the poor.”

“We will also provide free food to the poor,” he added.

The property, which once housed Deepa Bar and Restaurant, was donated to Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali Yogapeeth through the Varija Mallappa Charitable Trust named after the parents of its proprietor Sudhakar Shetty.

The property, situated at a prime location of Vile Parle West and spread over 8,500 square feet area, is estimated to be worth Rs.400 million.

Patronised by Bollywood stars, cricketers, politicians, businessmen, bureaucrats, foreign tourists, students, the police and underworld operatives during its heydays, Deepa Bar & Restaurant shut shop around four years ago after Mallappa Shetty died.