Hindustan Times 19.03.2010
BMC to make its pools safer
The drowning of an eight-year-old in an Andheri pool has prompted the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to draw safety guidelines for all civic swimming pools.
The two-member committee that was formed to probe the incident is preparing the guidelines.
It will submit its report to Additional Municipal Commissioner, Ashish Kumar Singh.
These guidelines will focus on the quality of the water in the pool and the number of lifeguards per person.
“According to international norms there should be one lifeguard for 30 people in the pool. This is not being followed,” said one of the two members of the inquiry committee.
The BMC may also make it mandatory for civic medical officers to check the quality of water regularly and the pool management will have to maintain records, a civic official said.
Singh confirmed that the guidelines will be applied to all civic swimming pools.
“These guidelines will have to be followed strictly. If there are not enough lifeguards around the pool people will not be let in,” Singh said.
There are at least seven BMC-owned swimming pools in Mumbai.
The municipal corporation is also taking steps to make swimming pools secure. The BMC will install closed-circuit television cameras around them.
The BMC felt the need for safety norms for swimming pools after Qasim Siddiqui a student of St Xavier School, Vile Parle, drowned in
the swimming pool at Shahaji Raje Krida Sankul (Andheri Sports Complex).
The incident occurred on March 14, two days after Mayor Shraddha Jadhav reopened the pool.
The boy’s mother, Sadiqa, was present when the incident occurred. Siddiqui’s friend, Yash, who saw him lying unconscious in the water and raised an alarm.
The boy was rushed to Cooper hospital in Juhu, where he was declared dead before admission.
His mother alleged that the swimming instructors were not paying attention to the children in the pool.
