It has been nine years since the public swimming pool adjoining Ulsoor lake on Kensington Road was closed down for maintenance and renovation work, but there is still no clarity on when it will open. Tired of the long wait, members of the Bharatinagar Residents’ Forum, along with a few sportspersons, organised a silent protest in Cox Town on Tuesday demanding that it be reopened.
“The BBMP handed over the facility to the Department of Youth Services and Sports. After much dilly-dallying, renovation work was taken up and completed six months ago. But the facility has not been opened. When we enquired about it, all the director of the department said was that there were some technical issues,” said N.S. Ravi, president of the association. Before 2008, a lot of people were using it. Now, residents say they are forced to travel long distances to access the nearest public pool.
Surendra, member of Students Union FC, said that using pools in private clubs comes at a heavy price. “A lot of us swim as part of cross-training. Before the pool was closed down, we would pay just ₹10 per hour for using the facility. In a private club, we have to pay ₹300 an hour. The next best option is to travel up to Banaswadi or Jayanagar to use the public pool there.”
Anupam Agarwal, director, Department of Youth Services and Sports, said confusion over whether the department should run the pool or hand it over to a private player has led to the delay. “This should be solved in a few days and the pool should be open.”
