For men, swimming fee has been hiked from Rs 50 to Rs 75 for two hours, for women the fee is Rs 75 from the previous Rs 45 and for a group (10 persons and more) the fee has gone up from Rs 30 to Rs 50. The guest members (from 4 pm onwards) will be charged the highest among others with Rs 100 as compared to Rs 75 last year. [break]
The fees at the swimming pool were constant for the past 13 years. “We had not hiked the ticket fee since 1996,” informed the chief of the swimming department Rajendra Kumar Basnet. “We have tried to adjust the fees according to the current market prices. Prices of everything including water and other required chemicals like chlorine, bleaching powder and other accessories have increased,” he added.
The swimming pool authorities will conduct rituals on Thursday and will open the pool for the public Friday.
The swimming pool had remained closed this season due to inadequate maintenance. But, with the growing number of prospective swimmers in the hot summer and pressure from various quarters, the National Sports Council started the maintenance works two weeks ago. The maintenance is almost complete.
Swimmers of the national team will not need be charged any fees at the swimming pool.
The pool is filled with fresh water and showers and others necessary accessories.
Last year the swimming pool was opened from May 7 till the first week of October and earned Rs 1.6 million through entry fees. But this season, it has already lost two years´ income.
After the maintenance the pool will be operational only for three or four months as the 31-year-old pool needs complete overhauling. The budget allocated by the NSC is too paltry for the purpose, according to officials concerned. NSC had provided Rs 100,000 for the pool´s maintenance.
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