siliguri: After four long years, the Vikash Ghosh Memorial Swimming Pool, the only Government swimming pool in Siliguri, reopened on Friday. The pool had been closed since 2019 due to its dilapidated condition.
Gautam Deb, Mayor of Siliguri Municipal Corporation, inaugurated the renovated swimming pool here on Friday.
“The pool had been closed for four years due to the pandemic and renovation work. A naturally lit lounge with sitting arrangements will come up beside the swimming pool soon,” said the Mayor.
The 25-meter-long swimming pool in the premises of the Kanchenjunga stadium was built in 2009 during the regime of the left-run civic board.
Asok Bhattacharya, the then minister of Urban Development and Municipal Affairs, had inaugurated the pool.
However, due to lack of maintenance and the pandemic situation the pool had remained closed since 2019. After coming to power at the civic body, the Trinamool Congress had requested Siliguri Jalpaiguri Development Authority (SJDA) to take up repair work of the pool. The pool has been given a facelift at a cost of Rs 25 lakh by the SJDA.
Jayanta Bandopadhyay, manager of the pool, said: “Since inception, we have had 300 students. Near 300 have registered for this session. We are receiving lot more queries.”
A private agency is running the pool with eight trainers at present. Classes will be held in two sessions in a day, thrice a week.
The pool batches have been divided into three categories, comprising of age groups of 3 to 12 years, 12 to 18 years and 18 above. One of the trainees, Oliva Das, said:“We are thankful to the government for reopening the pool. The initiative will help us practice swimming regularly.”