Greater Noida West high-rise pools inspected as residents fall ill after swimming

District sports department temporarily shut down a pool at one of the housing societies in Greater Noida West while four others were issued warnings over lapses and non-compliances found, said officials

Surprise inspections were conducted at five residential societies in Greater Noida West on Wednesday after residents from one of the societies complained of falling ill after swimming in the pool, district officials said.

Builder consultant of Saviour Greenarch, Bahardwaj Sinha, meanwhile, denied residents’ allegations, saying that these are merely rumours and all parameters with regards to the swimming pool are being followed. (HT Photo)

District sports department temporarily shut down a pool at one of the housing societies in Greater Noida West while the others were issued warning over lapses and non-compliances found, said officials.

According to the residents of Saviour Greenarch society, around 20 people including children took ill after swimming in the newly opened pool at the society on Tuesday.

“My 12-year-old son had gone for swimming and he complained of itching when he returned home. There were rashes on his body. After we inquired about the problem with other residents, we learned that similar issues were being faced by those in their families too,” said Nitesh Kumar, a resident of Saviour Greenarch.

Another resident Anurag Ashish said, “Not just children, even elders have complained of discomfort after swimming in the pool.”

District sports officer (DSO), Gautam Budh Nagar, Anita Nagar said, “After it came to the fore that a few residents of Greenarch faced health complications and skin irritation post swimming in the society pool, inspections were conducted on Wednesday. The samples of pool water that were collected showed that the water was clean, however, other protocols and security measures were not being followed at the society.”

The official said owing to the absence of safety measures, someone with an ailment may have entered the swimming pool, leading to the infection spreading to others.

The Saviour Greenarch residential society in Greater Noida West has around 1,650 flats and there is 100% occupancy, with a population of around 6,000. The housing society lacks an RWA at present, according residents of the society.

“After Covid-19, it has been made mandatory for residential societies to obtain health certificates of people entering the pools. This rules, besides several other safety measures, are openly flouted,” said the DSO.

“The operator has been directed to ensure all protocols are being adhered to while medical certificates are being collected post approving entry into the swimming pool in the future. The pool has been temporarily shut,” the DSO said.

Bharadwaj Sinha, Builder consultant, Saviour Greenarch, meanwhile, denied all the allegations made by residents of the society. “No such incident has come to my knowledge and these are merely rumours being spread. We are following all parameters with regards to the swimming pool in the residential society. Any maintenance related issue being faced will be resolved.”

The team conducted surprise checks at a few other residential societies in Greater Noida West including Ajnara Homes, Cherry County and Fusion Homes as well.

“During the surprise visit, swimming pool of the Ajnara Homes was found in a bad shape with no guidelines being followed. Whereas, in Cherry County, lifeguards who had been approved by the department were replaced by some other people who had no knowledge of swimming. Other security measures such as oxygen cylinders, etc, were missing. All these promoters are not abiding by the norms and have been served notices. They have been given three days for compliance,” said Nagar.

Meanwhile, residents of Ajnara Homes maintained that the cleaning works had commenced at the society swimming pool.

“The swimming pool was lying non-functional for six months as there was some glitch in the filtration process. However, work of cleaning the pool has commenced and it will take another day for the cleaning exercise to be completed,” Chandan Sinha, president, residents welfare association (RWA), Ajnara Homes, said.

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