Youth drowns in ‘closed’ MCD’s swimming pool

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s swimming pool, where 25-year-old youth, Ankit Kumar, drowned on Sunday, was not even supposed to be open. Its licence had not been renewed due to violations and electricity supply had been cut off over unpaid bills.

However, the pool, located in Block 2 of the Shalimar Bagh area, had surprise visitors - a group of five youth, including Ankit, who paid off the security guard to use the services on a hot and humid Sunday.

Ankit, along with his brother and friends, entered the pool around 5:30 pm on Sunday. He drowned while swimming in the pool. He was rushed to a nearby private hospital where doctors declared him dead on arrival.

Speaking to The Tribune correspondent who visited the site on Monday, Amit Kumar, younger brother of the deceased, attributed the incident to his kin’s decision to go into the deeper side of the pool. When he started sinking, no one came to save him, said Amit, exposing chinks in the armour of the MCD poll infrastructure.

For one, the pool should not have been open and the MCD should have sealed it for violations. Locals said the pool in any case should have had life jackets and a lifeguard on duty.

“Nobody came to rescue him. There were no life jackets, no lifeguard at the pool. We tried to pull him out, but in vain,” Amit said, his voice shaking with trauma.

He said they were five people and paid Rs 100 each to sneak into the pool. The guard made around Rs 500 from the group seeking to make an illegal entry. According to the police, the pool is managed by a private contractor under an MCD arrangement.

“Due to power cut, the operator had closed the pool temporarily. However, we now believe that the access was being quietly granted despite the closure possibly in exchange for a fee with the alleged involvement of the security guard,” said an official.

The body has been kept in the mortuary of Babu Jagjivan Ram Memorial Hospital. A case has been registered against the contractor under Section 106(1) of the BNS (death due to negligence) at the Shamilar Bagh police station, the cop mentioned.

The contractor is absconding. However, the security guard has been detained and is being questioned. Local residents said the gates of the pool were not secure.

“We’ve seen people going in and out even after the electricity was cut,” said Pawan, who runs a grocery shop in the bloc.

Hare Ram, father of the deceased, demanded a probe in the matter and strict action against the contractor as well as the guard who allowed them to use the pool.

“I lost my child over petty money. How did civic agency officials allow the pool to operate when its dues were not cleared and it was shut? questioned Hare Ram.