Deadly dives : Illegal swimming pools claim lives

Inaccessibility of safe swimming facilities pushes people towards substandard pools, water parks during summers

LAHORE:

Where sweltering summers lure families in the landlocked city to seek cooling water bodies for respite, the citywide utilization of illegal, substandard swimming pools means a casual dip in the pool might prove lethal for swimmers.

Even though swimming pool facilities located in housing societies, hotels, clubs and universities have optimal safety measures in place and lifeguards available for preventing fatal accidents, they are nevertheless exclusive in nature, as they require a membership and are not open to the public, which has to turn to illegal swimming pools that are constructed without obtaining a No Objection Certificate (NOC) or following the electrical and infrastructural guidelines necessary to ensure safety of the pool users.

Three locals, Abdul Rehman, Waleed Ahmed and Zeeshan Khan, unanimously agreed that swimming in illegally constructed swimming facilities could prove lethal but it was inevitable.

“People have no choice but to turn to illegal swimming pools since the safe ones are only built in big hotels, clubs and societies, which are not open to the public.

Even water parks, like the Sozo Water Park have a pricey entry ticket,” whined the three, who further added that the muddy Lahore Canal was the only free water body accessible to common people.

According to Mian Zahid Islam, an expert in town planning, providing recreation to families during summers was a positive move, only if it was safely managed and properly regulated. “Unfortunately, recreational businesses are blinded by their greed for money and are playing with the lives of citizens by building substandard swimming pools,” warned Zahid.

“The public demands cheap access to swimming pools during summers. Therefore, our pool is only operational during summers, and we keep strict check on its chlorine levels,” informed Muhammad Riaz, the manager of a swimming facility located at the Band Road in Lahore, who went on to claim that they had taken permission from the Water and Sanitation Authority (WASA) for the construction.

Where some swimming facilities are aware of the need to take approval from the departments concerned, others are completely oblivious to the legal process of registration.

An employee, working for a swimming facility at the Bedian Road, revealed on the condition of anonymity, that they neither had the mandatory NOC from the Electrical and Sports Departments nor were they aware of the particular department which approves the construction of swimming pools.

“No department issues the NOC to build a swimming pool. The map for our pool was approved by the town staff, which charges an annual fee from us,” differed the spokesperson for a water park in Wagah Town.

It is also worthy of mentioning that no data exists with the local government on the exact number of illegal swimming facilities, which are operational in the city and are posing significant danger to the lives of many, including children.

It is such sheer ignorance on the part of the swimming facilities administration and the concerned departments which culminates into tragic pool accidents.

Just recently, two youths were killed after being electrocuted while swimming in an illegal pool operational in Lahore’s Gujjarpura area.

“Rescue 1122, Metropolitan Corporation Lahore and the local town administration conduct surveys to approve swimming pools, but they do not have the authority to give NOC,” asserted Rafia Haider, Deputy Commissioner of Lahore.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 17^th, 2023.