Ludhiana MC to reopen its Olympic size swimming pool for public this April
Two years after being shut due to the pandemic, the swimming pool will be reopened by Ludhiana MC by the end of April, if no Covid restrictions are imposed by the government
With negligible cases of Covid-19 being reported in the district, the municipal corporation (MC) has decided to reopen its Olympic size swimming pool (50m x 25m), near Rakh Bagh, this year.
Two years after being shut due to the pandemic, the pool will be reopened by the end of April, if no Covid restrictions are imposed by the government.
The officials said the maintenance work of the biggest pool in the city, including cleaning of filters, will start in a few days.
Over a thousand residents used to come for swimming at the pool every year before the pandemic broke out and a similar response is expected this year too. The civic body earns a revenue of around ₹18 lakh every year as registration or subscription fee.
Usually, the civic body opens the pool in the initial days of April, but the process got delayed this year. The pool remains opened till September or mid of October.
The process for enrolment is expected to commence this week.Separate timings are fixed for men, women, couples and families, and residents can pay seasonal fee or avail lifetime membership by paying fixed fee to the civic body.
A swimming coach is also deputed by the civic body for amateurs. The depth of pool is 6 feet at one side and increases up to around 20 feet at the other end of the pool.
One of the residents of Model Town extension, Guneet Juneja, said, “Swimming is a good exercise and also it allows us to have fun time with friends. My friends and I used to register ourselves at the pool every year. It is good that things are coming back to normalcy and we will also plan accordingly.”
MC commissioner Pardeep Sabharwal said, “The pool was only opened for some time last year for training of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). Now that the restrictions have been removed, the pool will be opened for the public this year. The maintenance contract has been approved and the pool will be opened by the end of April.”
Opening of the pool will be beneficial for sportsperson: DSO
District sports officer (DSO) Ravinder Singh said opening of MC pool will also be beneficial for swimmers and other sportspersons and added that the department used to send the sportspersons for training at MC pool, but for the last two years, they were not able to practice properly and focussed on other activities to keep themselves in shape.