52-year-old man gets heart attack in Chembur swimming pool, dies

Mumbai: A 58-year-old man, Ajit Anikeni, died from a heart attack while swimming. Members demand better healthcare services at the civic-run pool.

Mumbai: A 58-year-old man died after suffering a heart attack while swimming in the General Arun Kumar Vaidya Swimming Pool in Chembur on Wednesday morning. The deceased was identified as Ajit Anikeni, a resident of Deonar.

Mumbai, India - November 05, 2020: Workers are seen cleaning up the swimming pool to make it ready to reopen after government has given permission to reopen the swimming pool after being shut for nearly 6-7 months due to Covid-19 pandemic at A.K. Vaidya Swimming Pool, Chembur in Mumbai, India, on Thursday, November 5, 2020. (Photo by Pratik Chorge/Hindustan Times) (Pratik Chorge/HT PHOTO)

According to other members of the civic-run swimming pool, Anikeni was a regular swimmer for over five years. Around 8.30 am on Wednesday, he had just finished his first 50-metre lap and was resting at one end of the pool. “When the lifeguard spotted that he didn’t come out of the water for five minutes, he rushed towards him,” said Himmat Gori, 53, a fellow swimmer.

The pool members then rushed Anikeni to a nearby hospital in an autorickshaw, but he was declared dead on arrival, added Gori.

Following Anikeni’s death, other members demanded better health care services, saying this wasn’t the first time such an incident had taken place at the civic-run swimming pool.

Naresh Mehta, 82, remembers one such incident less than a year ago, when he suffered a heart attack in August 2024. “At the time, Gori, an ex-civil defence member, performed CPR and took me to the hospital,” he said. “I was in the hospital for 22 days. The doctor told me that if there was a delay in admission, then I would have lost my life too.”

Mehta said that the pool premises did not even have a stretcher. “There are two ambulances parked outside Chembur station, which has a charging point. We suggested moving one of the charging stations near the swimming pool. And each ambulance, anyway, has a doctor, so it won’t take many efforts,” he added.

According to the members, they had written to the then deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis in 2023, urging him to keep an ambulance with a doctor inside the premises. They also ran a signature campaign for the same and met with the concerned authorities to improve healthcare services, but to no avail.

Following Anikeni’s death, they now plan to launch another signature campaign to demand basic health facilities. Gori said that the facilities at the civic pool were much better earlier when the services were not outsourced to private vendors. “The pool management tried to help us, but the lifeguards should be qualified enough to save people’s lives,” he added.

Neha Joshi, the pool manager, said she would discuss the members’ demands with her superiors.