Summer’s in, but Mumbai's civic swimming pools fail to cool

Summer holidays are here and children are queuing up outside civic swimming pools to beat the heat.

But the civic administration is not prepared to deal with the holiday rush as except the Dadar swimming pool, other pools are often shut owing to various problems such as repair works and filtration issues.

The municipal corporation owns seven swimming pools in the city. While it looks after the Mahatma Gandhi swimming pool at Shivaji Park, General Arunkumar Vaidya Swimming Pool at Chembur, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel swimming pool at Kandivli and Ghatkopar Lions swimming pool, the remaining three — at Andheri Sports Complex, Ozone swimming pool at Goregaon and Priyardarshini Krida Sankool at Mulund — are being maintained by private trusts.

At present, only the Shivaji Park swimming pool is functioning, while the pools at Ghatkopar and Kandivli have been open on and off since last year.

“The Kandivli pool was opened in July, but later shut again either due to water shortage or filtration issues,” said Rajesh Gavi, a member of the Vallabhbhai Sardar Patel Swimming Pool Users’ Association. “Lately, people are being denied admission to the pool for no particular reason.”

“The Ghatkopar and Kandivli pools, which were shut for two years for repair work, were re-opened last year. We have been trying to improve the facilities there,” said a civic official.

Another civic official said the administration plans to renovate the Kandivli pool, one of the oldest in the city. “The final decision will be taken after the structural audit, which will be carried in June or July,” said the official. 

Even the Chembur pool, which has been closed for renovation on the lines of the Mahatma Gandhi swimming pool at Shivaji Park since 2007, might take two more years to be opened to the public.

Chembur resident Raju Nagarale complained: “The delay in pool’s renovation work is not only inconveniencing the citizens, but also the civic body, which is losing lakhs of rupees every month.”

“We will protest on Wednesday against the delay in the renovation work and demand immediate release of funds,” he  added.

But, civic officials claimed that the facilities at the pools have improved compared with last year.