The Bombay High Courts recent order stalling redevelopment of the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Olympic Swimming Pool in Dadar and keeping it open for public has been welcomed by the locals and people who have been using it for a long time. Heartened by the courts decision,they feel the order will keep a check on the BMCs ambiguous promises. The court as of now has given a status quo decision to stall the redevelopment work and keep the pool open for general public. We are not against redevelopment but the civic body barely shared the details of the plan with us, said Mihir Desai,petitioners lawyer. Justices J H Bhatia and Mridula Bhatkar,who heard the case,issued a status quo notice that effectively freezes all work until the next hearing on June 15. The revamp work has been in the eye of a storm since BMC took the decision to redevelop the pool earlier this year. According to the original plan,the pool was to be converted into a racing pool (50x50 meters),a diving pool (25x22 meters),a warm-up pool (25x15 meters) and a childrens pool (18.5x10 meters) to encourage more sports talents. However,the plan ran into troubled waters when the civic body started making plastic changes and converting the pool into more like spa club. There was no clarity on the BMCs stand right from the beginning. Originally the pool was to be maintained as an Olympic pool but earlier this month,we heard that they were going to build a Jacuzzi and spa inside the pool, said veteran swimmer Amol Nayak,who has represented Maharashtra in various national swimming championships and used to train at the pool. According to Nayak,these facilities can be added benefit but it meant higher fees. The membership fee was extended by May-end to Rs 1,200 per person for three months,while the membership according to the original plan was just Rs 1,800 annually. These factors clearly proved that something was fishy. Despite our numerous letters,the work had not been stopped, said Rahul Gupte,a member of the Mahatma Gandhi Swimming Pool Members Coordination Committee. Consequently,we filed a PIL and the hearing was held before the High Court on May 28, he said. As it stands,existing memberships will be extended until the next date of hearing,but the committee has sent a letter via advocate Naresh S Fadia to the BMC,requesting that existing memberships be allowed to run their due course and that work on the pool be called off. If they do not send the letters within two days or so,it could be seen as contempt of court, said Gupte. Meanwhile,civic officials chose not to comment on the matter. I have not yet looked at the court order. Hence can not comment on the issue, said additional municipal commissioner Kishore Gajbhiye (western suburbs).
