KG swimming pool revamp hanging fire since 3 years

Ludhiana: The King George swimming pool renovation plan that was halted by the finance and contracts committee three years back during the Covid pandemic has been hanging fire since then.
The KG swimming pool in Rakh Bagh is the only pool for kids, which was earlier managed by the district administration. But in 2016-17, it was closed for the public and since then, the plan for its renovation has been going on.
The civic officials had prepared an estimate worth Rs 67 lakh for its renovation, of which around Rs 30 lakh was to come from the district administration, Rs 27 lakh was to be given by the MC and remaining Rs 10 lakh was to be paid by the private firm managing the maintenance in Rakh Bagh.
The MC had even finalised the contractor but due to Covid, ex-mayor Balkar Sandhu decided to stay the work order as swimming was not allowed during that time period. But then officials did not take up the matter again.
‘Relief for people if pool becomes operational’
A resident of Civil Lines, Manisha Sharma, said, “There is one pool being managed by the MC in city near Rakh Bagh but that is deep and small kids cannot be sent there. It will be great relief for people like us who want to teach their children swimming if KG pool becomes operational.”
Another resident of Atul Verma claimed that private swimming pools have flourished in the city just because the government pools are lying in shambles. He said the authorities should develop more such facilities at public places so that people need not depend upon private resources. MLA Gurpreet Gogi claimed to take up the issue with the deputy commissioner and MC commissioner so that pool could be renovated and residents could avail the facility.