The “international standard”, revamped swimming pools at the civic-run Andheri sports complex, which were closed in December last year — just two years after being opened— owing to leakages, will not be functional for at least another month. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the Trust that runs the complex, Brihanmumbai Kreeda Ani Lalit Kala Pratishthan (BKLP), are passing the buck over who will bear the repair costs.
The Shahajiraje Bhosale Kreeda Sankul, as the complex is officially known, boasts of several sporting facilities, including a football field, basketball, squash and tennis courts, a gymnasium, rope mallakhamb, karate hall, lecture hall and an auditorium. It also houses two swimming pools, one for racing and one for diving.
The 11-acre complex was inaugurated by Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray in 1991. According to the BKLP website, the land has been leased to them for 30 years. However, the pools have always been mired in controversy, once when a 12-year-old drowned, and on another occasion when swimmers complained of water contamination. On December 13, 2016, Yuva Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray inaugurated the two revamped swimming pools. But the pools were closed on December 19, 2018, after the water level kept dropping.
Vinayak Godambe, complex officer, said, “We noticed a drop in water levels on a daily basis. The management decided to shut the pools. There is a 16-inch-diameter pipeline that goes from the filtration plant to the pools. It is only 130-metre long. The pipeline goes to both pools, and there were leaks at two spots. There was damage to the valves too.” Staffers had to find the exact cast iron replacement of the pipe.
Since the pools have been closed, BKLP has been facing loss of revenue and has written to BMC officers and the Mayor, requesting repairs. The Mayor, in a letter on February 6, asked Additional Municipal Commissioner Vijay Singhal to look into the matter.
But Garden Department officials are not keen on intervening. “The complex is completely maintained by BKLP. We have no jurisdiction there. They will have to carry out the repairs at their own cost,” an officer said. K West ward staff has been helping BKLP undertake pipeline repairs, but has made it clear that the Trust will have to pay for it.
When asked why were the pipelines not replaced before the revamp, a member of the BKLP board of directors, who did not wish to be named, said, “At that time, BMC engineers did a survey and we had given our observations. They said there was no need to replace the pipeline.” According to him, the BMC needs to bear the cost of these repairs.
If the BMC does not agree, the BKLP will have to float tenders and do the work from its own funds. The matter will be discussed in its board meeting, The repairs will thus take at least another month.
BKLP also maintains a municipal swimming pool in Mulund, and there has been controversy around that facility as well.
