More than six months after the completion of the much-publicised all-weather swimming pool near Rakh Bagh under the Smart City Mission, the facility is still awaiting public opening as the municipal corporation (MC) continues to struggle to finalise a contractor for its operation and maintenance.
Built at a cost of around Rs 5.82 crore which further revised to Rs 7 crore, the modern indoor swimming pool was promoted as a major sports infrastructure project that would allow residents and professional swimmers to continue practice throughout the year, regardless of weather conditions. However, despite the project being ready, swimmers and residents are still waiting for the facility to become operational.
According to information, MC does not want to run the pool on its own due to shortage of staff and maintenance-related issues. Officials are trying to hand over operations to a private contractor, but the tendering process has been delayed for months.
Three firms have reportedly shown interest in operating the pool, but the civic body is still scrutinising documents submitted by the bidders. Officials said certain shortcomings were found in the paperwork and additional documents had been sought from interested parties, delaying the finalisation process further.
The delay has disappointed residents and swimming enthusiasts, especially students and sportspersons who were expecting access to the facility during winter months when the regular swimming pool remains closed.
The all-weather pool has been equipped with modern facilities, including a filtration plant to maintain water quality and advanced machinery to regulate water temperature during different weather conditions. Officials said the pool has been designed on Olympic standards with a length of 25 metres and width of 12.5 metres.
The five-lane pool has varying depth ranging from 4.5 feet to 6 feet.
Residents said the project was announced with much enthusiasm under the Smart City Mission, but the continued delay in operationalising the facility had defeated its purpose. Many people questioned why such an expensive public project was lying unused despite being fully constructed.
Superintending Engineer Sham Lal Gupta said the civic body was in the process of checking documents submitted by interested bidders and efforts were being made to start the pool within three four days.
The prolonged delay has once again highlighted the challenge of operational management of civic projects, where infrastructure is created but public access remains stuck in administrative procedures for months.
