GURUGREAM: The opening of the
district swimming pool, originally scheduled for Tuesday (March 20), has been delayed. Ongoing repairs at the pool have forced the sports department to postpone the opening to April 1, sources said.
“Some repair work is still pending. Broken taps inside washrooms need to be repaired, the boundary walls need to be repaired and leakage inside the pool needs to be fixed. Also, the pool tiles have to be cleaned,” said district swimming coach Ravinder Singh.
Every year, the pool facility in
Kamala Nehru Park opens only after April 20, delaying training of
swimmers by about 20 days.
Earlier this month, the sports department had made tall claims that the pool would be opened before April for athletes this year.
Asked about the delay, Paras Ram, district sports officer, said: “I and my officials were away in Panchkula for some work last week, so the work had to be halted. Repairs are on full swing now, and we’ll complete everything by the end of this month.” However, when TOI visited the pool on Thursday, it was locked from outside, with not a single labourer working there.
Owing to this, swimmers will have to bear the brunt. City swimmer
Kanishka Shokeen, a bronze medallist in Khelo India Games, said: “This does hurt us. I normally go to Delhi’s Talkatora stadium for training sessions. Since I am a national-level swimmer, I don’t have to pay any charges there.”
Khushi Jain, who too has competed at the national level, said: “I’ve been training at the district swimming pool in Kamala Nehru Park. The washrooms are not in good condition, and they need maintenance.” Many swimmers, under the condition of anonymity, said although the pool is repaired yearly, it is not maintained throughout the year, causing problems to crop up again.
