Swimmers to be deprived of Kamgar Kalyan pool this year too

Nagpur, Feb 21

In the summer season one can see heavy rush at swimming pools but this time around that will not be the scenario, especially at Nagpur's Olympic- size Kamgar Kalyan Mandal. swimming pool. The reason behind it is not Covid curbs but non-maintenance of the pool.

The swimming pool has remained closed for the last two years due to Covid restrictions and city's state and national level swimmers were forced to do their regular practice at Ambazari lake.

Recently labour commissioner from Mumbai Raviraj Ilve inspected the Kamgar Kalyan Swimming pool along with the contractor. Talking to Lokmat Times assistant labour commissioner Nandlal Rathod said, “At present the swimming pool is in bad shape. It is in need of major repairs as the tiles at the floor of the pool are broken. It requires a complete facelift. The filtration plant too is very old, it needs to be replaced along with the diving board. A lot of funds are needed to carry out all these repair works."

Rathod said the labour commissioner will soon hold a high-level meeting and ask the concerned authorities to prepare the estimate for the repair work.

Rathod said, “ As far as the budget is concerned even the labour commissioner has some limitations. It requires around Rs 3 crore for the renovation of the pool and maintenance of the filtration plant. If we decide to install a new plant then the budget will cross over Rs 5 crore, “ he said.

Rathod also said that the problem is not limited only to Nagpur as the Kamgar Kalyan Mandal's swimming pools at Mumbai and Pune also need maintenance.

NIT pool likely open soon

After relaxation in curbs, the NIT swimming pool is likely to reopen soon. NIS swimming coach Sanjay Batwe said, “Since the Covid cases have come down in the city and the government has given some relaxation the authorities should open the NIT swimming pool since city swimmers don't have many options with them." The vice-president of the Swimming Association of Maharashtra (SAM) Dr Jaiprakash Duble said, “During the British era, although the population of Nagpur was less, there were around ten swimming pools in the city. It shows that there is great demand for swimming pools in the city. The concerned authorities should do maintenance and open the city swimming pools.” (By Nilesh Deshpande)