Swimming pools of Ludhiana Govt colleges in poor shape amid lack of funding
When questioned about handing over the facility to a private authority for maintenance, the staffer said, “Nearly 10 years ago, tennis court was given to a private authority on rental basis and later they occupied the place and refused to leave, post which no private authority has been allowed to take charge of any of the places here”
Swimming pools, built years ago, in SCD Government College and Government College for Girls are lying in a deplorable state and are in a dire need of maintenance and renovation, which was done years ago.
As per authorities of the colleges concerned , there are no funds available to maintain these pools as they would require renovation, which is a huge investment.
One of the faculty members of SCD College, on the condition of anonymity, said the swimming pool was risky and had no filtration plant. “The renovation of this pool would account for an expenditure same as that required for building an entirely new structure. This 25m pool built nearly 20 years ago is outdated and is very deep as compared to the new structures which are 50m long and are shallow. Also, in the absence of a filtration plant, it leads to a lot of wastage of water,” he said. He also mentioned that the tubewell was damaged and the pool was renovated once after its construction but the authorities could not afford its upkeep.
When questioned about handing over the facility to a private authority for maintenance, the staffer said, “Nearly 10 years ago, tennis court was given to a private authority on rental basis and later they occupied the place and refused to leave, post which no private authority has been allowed to take charge of any of the places here.”
A staff member of Government College for Girls (GCG) said one of the students of the college is a swimmer and for her practice sessions, she visits the Municipal Corporation (MC) pool after paying a fee. “It would have been a lot easier for the swimmers if our college had maintained the pool and other students would also have been attracted towards the sport,” he mentioned.
However, narrating an incident leading to the closure of the pool, GCG principal Suman Lata said, “I have heard that the daughter of one of our class four employees drowned in the pool and since then, the pool is not functional. Though the incident happened before I joined this college, the chances of making this pool operational again is almost negligible as the college lacks funds to maintain the same.”
Principal of SCD college, Tanvir Likhari, remarked, “The pool here was built many years ago and we can only renovate it if a grant for the same is received, and upon receiving the grant, we would send a proposal for its renovation to the higher authorities.”
