Although it is mandatory for every society to apply for a fresh licence every year, in many apartments this rule is being flouted openly.
Last year, a boy drowned in his society's swimming pool because of the negligence of pool operators. The operators, however, do not seem to have learnt their lesson, as many swimming pools in Noida societies have been opened for use without their licences renewed.
It is mandatory to renew a swimming pool's licence every year. The district sports officer thoroughly examines all aspects of the pool before renewing a licence.
According to Anita Nagar, district sports officer, Gautam Buddh Nagar, she has renewed licences for 20 of the 160 swimming pools in the district this year. She said, “On receiving applications, I, along with other officers, conduct a site inspection of each pool to examine whether the applicant is complying with safety and hygiene standards.”
Many operators, however, have allowed pools to be used byresidents without renewing their licences. Amit Gupta, a resident of Prateek Wisteria, a society in Sector 77, Noida, said the society's pool has been functional for the past two weeks now. He, however, didn't know whether its licence had been renewed.
According to the district sports officer, the Prateek Group had applied for a new licence and she was yet to visit the society for inspection.
PG Ganesh, another resident of Prateek Wisteria, said his 12-year-old son, Prateek, met with minor injuries while swimming in the society pool recently. He pointed out that some of the tiles in the pool were broken, which resulted in the injuries. He added there was no first-aid kit available near the pool during the incident.
Bhuvan Sharma, a resident of Homes 121, a society in Sector 121, said their society pool was fully functional but no rules were being followed. The operator did not even maintain cleanliness. “All such defaulters should be penalised and officers should initiate action against them," he said. "This is a safety issue.”
Ramanuj Singh, city magistrate, told City Spidey that it was sheer negligence on the part of the operators if they had opened the swimming pools to the public without having their licences renewed.
He warned operators to apply for new licences before operating the pools, as strict action would be taken if complaints were made againstv them.
