Mumbai: Plan to privatise city’s public swimming pools sparks outrage

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC has been considering handing over the management of all 13 swimming pools to private entities under a PublicPrivate Partnership PPP model citing financial losses in running these facilities in MumbaiHowever pool members and some insiders within the BMC argued that this move was a deliberate attempt to cover up administrative failures midday investigated the matter and learnt that the gymnasiumsmdashone each at Kandivli West and Dahisar East swimming facilitiesmdashhave been lying dysfunctional since inceptionUnused gym machines at the Dahisar facilityldquoAll the expensive machines at these gymnasiums are gathering dust because the head office is not at all bothered to start these gymsrdquo said an insider in the BMCKandivlildquoKandivli swimming pool was inaugurated on March 1 2022 If the officials did not want to start the gymnasium why did they invest so much money in purchasing the machines Today the swimming pools are running under loss and they are planning to give these facilities into the hands of private players If it goes under the Public Private Partnership PPP model they will surely start the gym to make good profitrdquo said a civic official requesting anonymityldquoWhy the senior babus are not working on starting canteen facilities at swimming pools All the swimming pools have a huge space where counters can be made to sell swimming gears the space can be used for pay and park use etc But these babus are only interested in showing a deficit between the expenditure incurred and the revenue received from the membersrdquo said the officialAnother BMC insider said ldquoInitially contractors were brought in to manage the swimming facilities in Mumbai but there has been a lack of proper supervision over their operations Furthermore all their bills are promptly cleared by the BMC without proper verification bypassing the necessary checks to ensure whether the payments should be approved or held for further scrutinyrdquoWadalaWadala swimming pool has been lying shut since July 10 for maintenance ldquoThe members of Wadala swimming pool were informed that the facility will be shut for 10 days for maintenance work but it is yet to be restarted The members have been coming almost every alternate day to ask when it will be resumed but the authorities have no clear reply as none of them are aware of any developmentrdquo said a member of Wadala swimming pool requesting anonymityDadarThe members at Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Olympic Swimming Pool Dadar have been fuming over pools going under the PPP model and said that these facilities are for recreational purposes and not a profitmaking businessldquoThe membership fees will skyrocket if these pools are sent to private entities to run How will the common man think of taking a membershiprdquo said Jitendra Singh an old member at Dadar facilityMeanwhile another member Hemangini Panchal said ldquoThe management is extremely pathetic as they have charged us for a smart card to access the swimming pool but no smart card has been given to us Plus despite strong resistance and uproar from members granite tiles were fixed near the pool These granite tiles are slippery and after accidents they will be bound to change it to make the floor antiskid So naturally if the revenue is wasted like this the operation cost will be higherrdquoWhen contacted the civic coordinator at the pools in Mumbai Sandeep Vaishampayan said ldquoI am not aware if the pools are going under the PPP modelrdquoHowever the Deputy Municipal Commissioner Chanda Jadhav said ldquoI have recently taken over the charge of this office My predecessor had conducted some meetings regarding pools going under the PPP model but I am yet to review the meetingsrdquoWhen asked about why the gyms are not functional at Dahisar and Kandivli swimming pools and when Wadala pool will be started Jadhav said ldquoI will look into the matter and let you knowrdquo