The municipal swimming pool at the Andheri Sports Complex, where a seven-year-old drowned on Friday, did not have a licence to operate. Moreover, the pool, which was closed for eight months for repairs, was reopened even though its water had not been certified fit for swimming.
The pool’s licence expired on December 31, 2009. The process for its renewal was initiated (the police commissioner’s office renews swimming pool licences on the basis of a no-objection certificate from the municipality’s health department), but its water samples failed the quality test in February.
That is because the pool’s filtration plant is faulty. “It is corroded and has led to an increase in turbidity and dirt-levels,” a source said.
As per norms, swimming should not be permitted at a pool unless its floor is visible. “Even this norm was violated,” the source said.
Still, mayor Shraddha Jadhav, who is also the chairperson of the trust managing the sports complex, inaugurated the pool on Wednesday. On Friday, Qasim Siddique Hamid Ali, 7, drowned in the pool.
Vijaysinh Jadhav, deputy commissioner of police (licensing), said those responsible for holding the licence can be charged with a non-cognisable offence. “We will take action once a detailed report is compiled after police investigations.” Mayor Jadhav said she was not aware of the non-renewal of the pool’s licence. “I was kept in the dark.”
But, she said, she had raised doubts about the water quality at the time of the inauguration. “I was, however, told it was not a problem.”
The municipality has spent Rs3.67 crore in repairing the pool. Now, doubts are being cast on the quality of work done.
Jadhav said the pool would remain closed till the anomalies are sorted out. A municipal inquiry panel will visit the pool on Monday.
Clear case of drowning
The post mortem report of Qasim Siddique Hamid Ali has stated “asphyxia due to drowning” as the cause of the 7-year-old’s death. An official from the Cooper hospital’s post mortem centre said there were no injury marks on the body. “The findings clearly show that the boy drowned after he was unable to breathe inside the water.”
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