City needs quality sports infrastructure as this reflects the health of its society, say experts

Some of the country’s Olympian swimmers have trained in Bengaluru, and while the city has several reputed private swimming academies, public pools are few and far between. The demand for more such facilities has risen steadily over the last few years, but most contractors who run the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) swimming pools say the available infrastructure is not enough to cater to everyone.

There are only nine BBMP swimming pools in the city. “Though there are pools in clubs and in gated communities, a large section of society does not have access to them. The city needs more sports infrastructure as it reflects the health of society,” said a contractor who looks after a BBMP pool in Mahalakshmipuram.

Another issue is the skewed distribution of swimming pools across the city: while some zones have two pools, others have none. According to senior BBMP officials, of the eight zones, Dasarahalli, East, Bommanahalli, and Mahadevapura do not have any public swimming pools, while Yelahanka and Rajarajeshwarinagar zones have one each.

On the other hand, the South zone has three public pools — in Basavanagudi, Gavipuram, and Vijayanagar. The West zone has three — in Mahalakshmipuram, Sadashivanagar, and Seshadripuram. The Kensington Swimming Pool at Halasuru has been leased by the BBMP to the Department of Youth Empowerment and Sports.

Acknowledging the imbalance, S.G. Nagaraj, councillor, Vignan Nagar, said development was concentrated in only a part of Bengaluru. “The old core area has all numerous facilities while the outer areas have been deprived of certain infrastructure such as parks, swimming pools, and playgrounds,” the councillor said.

At a time when ‘Fit India’ is the buzz word, swimmers who do not have access to private clubs said there was a need for the BBMP to address this issue. Coaches, too, have noted a rise in adults and children signing up to learn how to swim. “We are only proud of the fact that we are the IT capital of the country. For the holistic development of the city, the development of sports facilities is equally important as infrastructure. Unfortunately, we lack this approach in the city,” a coach at Kempegowda Swimming Pool at Gavipuram said.

Most public pools are overcrowded, which makes it difficult for the contractor to maintain them. A staff member at Vijayanagara public pool said that during summer and on Sundays, the pool gets extremely crowded and it gets increasingly difficult for to maintain it.

According to Lokesh, the in-charge of the new pool at Allalasandra, Yelahanka, the BBMP should provide them with more facilities. “Once the contract is awarded and signed, the BBMP does not bother. I feel they should at least give wide publicity so that people get to know about the pool,” he said.

Mahadevapura’s quest for the facility

In Mahadevapura, a group of citizens approached the local civic authorities and requested them to provide more infrastructure such as swimming pools, public parks and grounds. “However, the response was not encouraging as the BBMP passed the buck to other departments such as Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports,” said Gaurav Ram, a resident of Mahadevapura and one of the people who made the appeal. With no public facilities, Gaurav said he had no option but to use pools run by private parties or clubs near his locality, which was expensive. “A few areas have multiple pools leased by the BBMP which are reasonable and hence easily accessible to the public. However, our zone does not have even one,” he said.

A senior BBMP official suggested that the open unused government spaces could be converted into playgrounds or pools. “Public pools, parks, playgrounds and libraries are a part of the city’s culture and play an important role in the vibrancy of the city,” he said.

Another BBMP councillor said that he had approached the concerned officials and elected representatives to try and convert unused and open public spaces into parks or swimming pools as the zone did not have a single public swimming pool, but so far, little had come out of his efforts.

Delay in Jayanagar pool renovation work

Four years after renovation work began, the swimming pool near Kittur Rani Chennamma Stadium in Jayanagar is still to open. A second pool is also being built. The deadline for the project was April 2019, but officials say that it will take another six to eight months before it reopens.

“Since the pool here is closed, we are compelled to go to Basavangudi or Gavipuram pools and they are very crowded,” Shaktikiran R., a resident of Byrasandra and a regular swimmer, said.

With inputs from Nived Utaiah and Sai Anand