Delhi: DDA to open swimming pools by August 10

Another senior DDA official said the agency is carrying out repair and maintenance work “as the pools were closed for a while now”.

The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) is planning to open most of its swimming pools to the public by August 10, with officials adding that at least 11 of its 15 pools in the Capital will be made operational this year.

A senior official said that it will take time to fill the pools and carry out basic repair and maintenance. (HT FILE PHOTO)

“We plan to open the facilities by August 7 or 10. We will have proper measures in place and staff deployed to ensure that people coming to the facility follow all the Covid norms. There will be thermal screening of people and other such measures,” said a senior DDA official.

Another senior DDA officialsaid the agency is carrying out repair and maintenance work “as the pools were closed for a while now”.

However, the Olympic-size swimming pool at the Commonwealth Games village and the facility at Hari Nagar sports complex will not be operational as, the official said, the former is a Delhi government-run Covid care centre and the latter has no source of water to fill the pool.

“While we plan to make at least 11 pools operational, the final number will depend on the size of the pool and water source available, as we have to refill the pools,” said the official.

DDA officials said that they started the work on making swimming pools operational in March this year after the Delhi Disaster Management Authority allowed swimming pools to open in April after a long gap due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“We were planning to open our facility from April, but then the lockdown was announced. Though people were not allowed inside the facility, we kept the pool operational for a month after the lockdown. But it was turning out to be very expensive, as we had to filter the water on a daily basis and deploy staff for regular operations. This is why it was decided to drain the water in the pools,” said the official.

A senior official said that it will take time to fill the pools and carry out basic repair and maintenance.

Usually, swimming pools at DDA’s sports complexes are operational between April-September and some continue till November and again reopen in February.

“We have three heated pools at Siri Fort, Yamuna and CWG sport complexes. Of the three, two facilities will continue till November,” said the official.