Lying closed since 2015, Gol Bagh public swimming pool yet to make a splash

Charanjit Singh Teja

Amritsar, June 9

Even after nine years, the municipal corporation (MC) has failed to operationalise the public swimming pool located at Gol Bagh. The swimming pool has been lying closed since 2015 as the MC did not provide dedicated swimming coach, divers, lifesaving guards, technical and sanitation staff for the facility. The state government had eliminated the provision of hiring employees on a daily wage basis in 2015 and in the absence of staff, the pool was abandoned.

In 2022, the municipal corporation had sanctioned Rs 5 crore for the renovation of the swimming pool, but engineers found that it could be made functional after repairs as major changes were required. So, the MC had decided to reconstruct the pool. The old pool and other infrastructure have been demolished and the new swimming pool is under construction. The completion of swimming pool has jumped several deadlines during the past two years as the construction work is going on at a snail’s pace.

Swimming enthusiasts are a disappointed lot as the MC failed to start its swimming pool again this summer. Last year, officials of the MC had claimed that it would take three more months to complete the reconstruction work of the public swimming pool and it would be reopened for the public in the summer of 2024. During a visit to the swimming pool, it was observed that work had been stopped for the past several months. There are only two major swimming pools in the city — one at Khalsa College Senior Secondary School and the other at Guru Nanak Dev University — where students or trainees of the Sports Department can come for practice.

Rajiv Kumar, a resident said, “It is sad that the swimming pool has been lying closed for the past several years. The Gol Bagh swimming pool had good infrastructure. Apart from sportsmen, residents used to come here. The swimming pool should be opened for the public in this scorching heat.”