Registration for 12 swimming pools in Chandigarh to begin from April 1

Tribune News Service

Deepankar Sharda

Chandigarh, March 29

The UT sports department has ordered opening of registration for 12 swimming pools for the upcoming summer session from April 1. The pools are likely to start functioning from mid of the next month.

The department has issued posting orders of all the concerned officials. Except the facilities at Lake Sports Complex and Sector 23 (Nursery), all other facilities will be looked after by a single official. Two coaches, nine lifeguards and three boatmen will run the pools across the city.

“We are ready with the swimming pools, and the registration will open on April 1,” said Dr Sunil Rayat, Joint Director, UT sports department.

Last year, after reviewing the “one official at one pool” decision, the department had appointed a “linked” official each at the pools located in Sector 8, Sector 34, Sector 39, Sector 43, Sector 50 and Sector 56. In the absence of the regular official, this “linked” official was asked to run the respective pool to streamline its functioning.

Last year, the department deputed 18 officials to run 12 swimming pools. In addition, six more officials had been recruited to ensure two officials each at a centre.

In the latest orders, the pools will be operational two sessions per day. The morning session will be open for national/state/trainees (6am to 7am), for non-students (7am to 8am) and family time (8am to 10am). The evening session will start with the timings for professional swimmers (4pm to 5pm), for non-students (5pm to 6pm) and family time (6pm to 8pm).

The 12 pools include, Lake Sports Complex, Sector 23 all-weather pool, Sector 23 Nursery Pool, Mani Majra complex and facilities at Sector 8, 27, 34, 38,39, 43, 50 and 56. The sports department is the only government body of the region to have 12 swimming pools.

However, none among these is a full-fledged 50m Olympic-size pool. The city has only one 50m full size (open) pool at Panjab University.

During the last winter session, the department operated its only all-weather facility (Sector-23) for extended hours. It was for the first time, the pool remained open 6 am to 12 noon and 2 pm to 6 pm (extendable to 7 pm) on all working days. It was the first ever instance, when a local coaching centre was open for such a long period. Annually, the pool operated under limited hours (6am to 10am and 3pm to 6pm in winter).

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