Swimming pools in Chandigarh to open from April 1

Deepankar Sharda

Chandigarh, March 6

Sports Department will start operations at all its swimming pools from April 1.

There are more than 10 swimming pools run by the department. Officials said all necessary approvals had been given to hire staff and start operations from April 1.

At present, only the Sector 23 all-weather facility is open to the general public. The department runs the pools at Sector 23 (nursery pool), Sector 23 all-weather pool (Yoga College), Sector 27, Lake Sports Complex and at Sectors 8, 34, 38 (West), 39, 43, 50 and 56, and Mani Majra.

For summer sessions, these pools remain open for nearly five months, extendable till the start of the winter session. “The pools will be ready to operate from April 1, under the new summer session. All necessary permissions, majorly in terms of the hiring of staff, have been given to the UT Engineering Department,” said Sorabh Kumar Arora, Director, Sports, UT Administration.

Only two coaches

With the addition of new pools, the need for manpower to operate these facilities has increased. The department has only two coaches. Last year, owing to the closure of the Sector 23 all-weather swimming pool for construction work, one of the coaches was deputed at the Lake Sports Complex. The rest of the swimming pools were operated by boatman and lifeguard professionals.

The same classification is likely to be followed this year too with both departments (sports and engineering) citing limited resources. “Most of the centres are run by boatman and lifeguard professionals. To encourage local swimmers, the department should appoint coaches at those centres, which offer special trainees’ coaching timings,” said one of the trainees. Last session, a total of 11 lifeguards and four boatmen were appointed to run 10 centres.

Just one woman lifeguard The department has only one woman lifeguard to help female swimmers in case of emergency.

Timings likely to be similar this session

• In last summer session, the UT Sports Department had opened 10 swimming pools with the same timings.
• In the morning session, the pools were opened from 6 am to 7 am for competitors, 7 am to 8 am for non-students and from 8 am to 10 am for recreational (family) category.
• In the evening, the pools were opened from 4 pm to 5 pm for competitors, 5 pm to 6 pm for non-students and from 6 pm to 8 pm for the recreational (family) category.
• The timings are likely to be similar this session also.