Shortage of staff hinders ops at state’s 1st all-weather govt pool

Smooth operations of the state’s first government all-weather 10-lane Olympic standard swimming pool in Ambala Cantonment continues to pose a major challenge to the authorities at the local level, in the absence of adequate staff.

The pool, constructed as per the standards of FINA (Fédération Internationale de Natation), came as a big respite for the budding and professional swimmers in 2022. it is being operated with curtailed timings and a complete ban for beginners since April this year. The swimming pool was inaugurated in June 2022 by the then Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.

The operations tender for the pool expired in March 2025. Though a file was moved well in advance for the fresh tender, due to procedural delays, the process to hire a new firm is yet to be completed.

The decision of keeping the pool inaccessible for the beginners had led to disappointment among the residents who wanted to enroll their children in the swimming classes during summer vacations. At present, only trained swimmers, including state, national-level medalists, children selected for the academy through earlier trials and guest swimmers, who are required to pay for per visit, are allowed to use the facility.

An official in the Sports Department said the department was making all efforts to ensure smooth operations of the swimming pool but with the shortage of staff and absence of life guards it was not an easy task.

“Earlier the pool used to be operated for nearly 10 hours a day, but now it is operational five hours a day due to constraints. A tender was opened at the headquarters’ level but the firms were found not fulfilling the conditions of the tender due to which a new tender is expected to be floated soon. The efforts to hire temporary staff at the local level also failed to attract qualified trainers. At least four lifeguards/ coaches, one plant operator, and one electrician are required to ensure smooth operations at full capacity. The plant and other major equipment, including the AC, CCTVs and the ozonator requires repairs. A technogym is also required for the swimmers. Even though the former Sports Minister Sandeep Singh had issued directions in this regard, it is yet to be installed”, he added.

“In the absence of adequate training, a dip in the performance of the swimmers is being observed. Moreover, no beginner has been enrolled for the swimming classes for the past more than five months, despite the fact that there have been good queries from the residents. Not only a loss for the swimmers, the restricted operations will have an adverse impact on the revenue for the government too”, the official said.

Haryana Cabinet Minister Anil Vij and State Sports Minister Gaurav Gautam had also expressed concerns about the delay in tendering process and had issued directions.

Senior Swimming Coach Ram Sharma said, “The district sports office is managing the pool and all efforts are being made to ensure that the training of the swimmers is not affected. The Khel Mahakumbh and another state-level championships are scheduled to be held here and we are confident that the swimmers of Ambala will win medals in the championships.”

District Sports Officer Rajbir Ranga said, “Efforts were made to resume the operations at full capacity but in the absence of staff, the pool is being operated with curtailed timings. A tender was opened at the headquarters’ level but due to some technical issues it was not allotted. The matter is at the headquarters’ level. We are yet to hear an update regarding the tender. Efforts are also made to hire the staff on a temporary basis for three months at the local level but there was lukewarm response. A process is underway to hire the staff.”