Ghaziabad residents’ body set rules for swimming pool use

The Federation of apartment owners’ association, Ghaziabad, has formulated rules and guidelines to be followed by residential apartments with swimming pools.

In the wake of recent mishaps involving children in swimming pools of residential societies, the Federation of apartment owners’ association, Ghaziabad, has formulated a set of rules and guidelines to be followed by residential apartments in Ghaziabad that have swimming pools.

The guidelines were formed in the wake of several mishaps involving children in swimming pools of residential societies. (HT File Photo)

An eight-year-old boy had drowned in the swimming pool of a highrise in Indirapuram on June 16 and in Noida, a nine-year-old is currently in a critical condition after he was stuck inside the swimming pool of a highrise in Sector 78 on June 29.

While the city authorities have not officially set any such guidelines, the federation has sent its own guidelines to Ghaziabad development authority (GDA) vice-chairman, Vijay Kumar Yadav, for approval. It has also sent a copy to additional district magistrate (city).

The rules make it mandatory for residential societies to have a life guard and a coach deployed at the swimming pool when it is open. They also impose a prohibition on those who do not know how to swim and on entry of children under 16 into the pool without adult supervision, among other important guidelines.

While there has not been any response from the authority over the guidelines yet, Col. Tyagi said that the 78 residential societies of the city that are under the federation follow the rules.

“The set of rules and guidelines are only set in order to safeguard the residents from any unfortunate incident. I don’t think we should wait for any official guidelines from the administration or the authority and simply implement the rules for our own safety,” said Tyagi.

The additional district magistrate (city), Priti Jaiswal, said that the district administration will formulate proper guidelines to govern the use of swimming pools.

“All residential societies with a swimming pool will be issued a license for its use only after thorough checking of their safety arrangements around the pool. This will be done soon as various unfortunate incidents have happened,” she added.