Gautam Budh Nagar: Swimming pools to stay open for longer

The District Sports Office in its order issued on Saturday, however, also warned that any mishap thereupon would be the responsibility of residents themselves

NOIDA: Swimming pools in Gautam Budh Nagar’s high rise societies will now remain open for longer hours following permission from the District Sports Office which has decided to revise the timings due to multiple requests and resistance from residents in view of the sweltering heat and summer vacations.

The order states that the swimming pool should not be operated before or after the given time and it is mandatory to have lifeguards and other safety related equipment at the time of operating the pool. (HT Photo)

The office in its order issued on Saturday, however, also warned that any mishap thereupon would be the responsibility of residents themselves.

About a week ago, the authorities had issued a directive mandating that all swimming pools in Noida and Greater Noida to be operational during the relatively cooler hours of the day and evening — 5am to 8am, and 5pm to 8.30pm.

Residents, however, opposed this directive and now an extension of two hours in the morning and 1.5 hours in the evening has been allowed. According to new timings, pools will be operational between 5:30 to 10:00am, and 5:00 to 10:00pm.

To be sure, at least 350 societies in both Greater Noida and Noida were affected by the pool timing directive, and they raised an objection.

“Currently, it is extremely hot and if any kind of accident/mishap occurs in your swimming pool complex during this period, then the entire responsibility for the same will be yours alone. Therefore, the swimming pool should be operated in a systematic manner. Also, activities like Zumba and dances should not take place in the swimming pool premises,” the order reads.

Rajiva Singh, President, Noida Federation of Apartment Owners Associations (NOFAA) who was leading the residents’ resistance said that he could never find any logic behind reducing the timings of the pools.

“The weather is so hot and people just want to have a good time at the pool. However, I am satisfied that after multiple requests were made and even the matter was escalated to the DM, the change has finally been made,” he said.

Residents, who were previously feeling inconvenienced due to the earlier timings, are now hailing the changed directives.

“The previous timings were too early and inconvenient, more so because the summer vacations are ongoing. So many people were affected by it, said a resident of Prateek Stylome sector 45 Noida requesting anonymity, adding: “Hence, we made a request to the DM too and thankfully it has been revised.”

“This is a welcome step. Earlier timings made no sense that too during this heatwave. There are more than 160 societies in Noida, and generally parties are not (taking place) there. If someone is consuming alcohol, they should seal that club house. Instead of taking such a step they were restricting the time. This was no solution to the problem,” said Navneet Chandra, a resident of Krishna Apra residency, Noida, Sector 61.