Owing to inadequate maintenance the pool has remained closed this season. “We have planned proper maintenance of the swimming pool, so we opted to close it to the public this year,” informed Rajendra Basnet, swimming department chief at the Dasharath Stadium pool.
But, with the growing number of aspirant swimmers in the hot days of summer and pressure from other quarters also, the sports council has just started maintenance work and promises to open the pool to the public from mid-July.
National team swimmers, who do not need to pay for using this swimming pool, are also hampered in their daily practice because of its closure.
The maintenance will keep the pool open only for three or four months as the 31-year-old pool needs complete overhauling, but the budget allocated by NSC is too paltry for that. NSC has provided Rs 100,000 for maintenance.
“The maintenance work on the pool will be finished in about a week and it will be open to the public from July 17,” said Julum Giri, a swimming department staffer, to myrepublica."This year we could not conduct timely maintenance because of the Fifth National Games, as all concerned were busy with preparations for that,” she added.
The pool is in miserable shape with the tiles broken, and so are the lockers, taps, showers and other accessories, while NSC is busy making excuses about expenses.
Most swimming pools in Nepal are open only four or five months in summer as they have no heating system.
NSC opened the swimming pool last year from 7 May to the first week of October and earned Rs 1.6 million through gate money. If it is re-opens the pool in mid-July, two months’ income will already have slipped out of its hands.
NSC had opened a tender for leasing out the two swimming pools it owns -- at Dashrath Stadium and Satdobato. The latter was leased for Rs 2.2 million per annum but no one showed interest in the Dasharath Stadium pool. NSC had sought a lease amount for the Dasharath pool of no less then Rs 1.2 million.
Given better management and maintenence, NSC could have earned more from the Dasharath pool and more swimmers could have taken a refreshing dive in the scorching heat of May and June.
Related story
National Swimming competition in private swimming pool
