Five swimming pools to open next week

Deepankar Sharda
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, April 17 

Five out of the existing nine swimming pools under the UT Sports Department will be thrown open to the public from the next week.

Swimming pools at the Lake Sports Complex, Sector 34 Sports Complex and the Sector 43 Sports Complex will be made functional from the next, said a source, adding that the Sector 23 nursery pool and Sector 23 all-weather pool will also be operational soon.

Earlier, the UT Administration had announced to open these pools after the Lok Sabha elections. However, both the Sports Department and the Engineering Department swung into action after Punjab Governor and UT Administrator VP Singh Badnore’s intervention and carried out the necessary repair works on war footing to make these facilities ready for the public use at the earliest.  

“As soon as the Engineering Department fills water in these swimming pools, we will throw them open to the public,” said Sports Secretary Jitender Yadav.

“At certain centres, the work of filling water in the pools has already started and if everything goes right, we will make them functional by Monday,” Yadav added.

Every year, the Sports Department opens the pools after the Engineering Department carries out necessary repair works, for which the UT Administration floats the tenders. But this year, the process was delayed due to poll code.

Sources, meanwhile, informed that swimming pools at the newly-built Sector 38 Sports Complex, Sector 50 and Sector 56 would be thrown open only after the General Elections as the Sports Department was yet to hire the required staff to maintain these centres.

“We need man power to run these centres. The existing staff has been appointed to manage five other pools. The hiring process can only be initiated after the end of poll code,” said a source.

Last month, The Chandigarh Tribune had reported that only the Lake Sports Complex acted in time to get necessary clearances for carrying out the repair works, while the other centres were likely to remain shut till the end of the elections.