After two years of irregular operations, swimming pools have reopened once again and swimmers are diving in in hordes.
“Demand is a few notches higher than even before the pandemic. People have hit the pool with a vengeance,” said an official on behalf of the New Town Business Club pool. “Our season opened from April 1 and response has been tremendous right from the start. But to avoid crowding we are allowing no more than 28 men and 28 women per half hour slot. Our slots have run out and we can accommodate no more now. We are getting requests from high profile residents too but are having to refuse them now.”
The situation is similar in Bidhan Sishu Udyan at Ultadanga as well. “We gave out forms for just two days in mid-April and yet the batches are full,” said Gautam Talukdar, secretary of the Udyan. “We have not seen this much craze ever. Perhaps it is because parents have realised the importance of fitness in this pandemic period,” he added.
The pool at The Stadel
Parents are also allowed to swim after the children’s sessions get over, so the pool is even more in demand. Currently only the afternoon batches are on — 4pm to 6.30pm for kids and for adults for an hour from 6.30pm to 7.30pm. “We will start morning sessions too if we find another swimming coach and a life-saving guard,” Talukdar added.
Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation runs two pools — in the plot opposite Mayukh Bhavan that is part of the corporation’s Sports Academy and in CJ Block — and officials of the civic body’s sports department say around 1,700 people have enrolled for swimming sessions.
Priyam Dey, who oversees the operations at the pools, said admissions opened in April and at the start of the season there were long queues in front of the pool opposite Mayukh Bhavan when forms were being distributed. “Since the pool had been shut for a long time there was a huge rush of people. A lot of children have also enrolled for the classes,” Dey said.
While the pool opposite Mayukh Bhavan has a large pool that is 50m in length, it also has a shallow children’s pool. The one in CJ Block is 25m long and has a children’s pool too.
According to Dey, apart from regular classes, they are trying to nurture athletes and advanced training sessions will begin soon.
The 50m long Lake Town swimming pool. (Sudeshna Banerjee)
“We will hold screening sessions for promising swimmers from these pools and impart lessons to better their techniques and help them take part in competitions,” said Dey.
A civic official said they were buoyed by the response. “We are still getting requests from people to enroll. However we have stopped the procedure till June as taking in more people will crowd the pools,” he said.
He added that before opening, both pools were completely overhauled and all filtration units were double-checked to ensure they were functioning to their optimum capacities. “We are also keeping the pools shut for a couple of days every month apart from the weekly closure when complete cleaning is carried out,” he said.
Sharmistha Majumder, one of the swimmers at the Mayukh Bhavan pool, said they were happy to be back at the water and that the water quality was at par with other swimming clubs in the city. “The water here is well-treated and it is a great way to unwind after work,” said Majumder, who stays in ED Block.
The Lake Town swimming pool reopened on April 27. Since then, the word has spread and the stream of people picking up forms is uneding. “Our major benefit is the automatic filtration machine which ensures clean water,” said an office staff. The club also has a session specificially for physically challenged swimmers from 7.15pm. “Mostly the deaf mute or the hyperactive come for a swim. Our trainers are very caring towards them,” he said.
The 50m pool is 8.5ft deep at the deep end. There is a 2.5ft mini pool too. “We take 70 to 80 swimmers per session for adults.”
Rajarhat and Lake Town
The pool in Narayanpur, Rajarhat, too has opened and is also getting a good response. Tapas Chatterjee, one of the chief patrons of the pool who is also the MLA of Rajarhat New Town, said that with Covid restrictions being lifted it made no sense to keep the pool shut.
“Summer this year has been unforgiving and everyone aged between 8 and 80 loves to jump into a swimming pool. Not only is it a great way to relax but also to stay fit,” Chatterjee said.
Have you resumed all your pre-Corona extra-curricular activities? Write to The Telegraph Salt Lake, 6 Prafulla Sarkar Street, Calcutta 700001 or email to saltlake@abp.in