Days after a young man drowned in a swimming pool of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) at Taljai, the PMC has constituted a six-member committee that will ensure that such pools have the requisite safety mechanism. In an order issued on Friday, Additional Municipal Commissioner Sheetal Ugale-Teli said it was necessary to check safety measures and appoint life guards at civic-owned swimming pools, which were used by many Pune residents and students. The committee will inspect the civic pools on various parameters, such as its construction quality, and whether it has life guards, first aid facility and emergency equipment. In the wake of the Taljai incident, it was alleged that the lifeguard on duty was absent from the pool when the youth drowned. “Inspecting safety measures of swimming pools will help avoid accidents. It will also help the committee point out measures that need to be taken. ,” said Ugale-Teli. “In a bid to ensure that the pool is safe and clean for users, PMC needs to take up the verification process repeatedly. That’s why the committee has been constituted,” she said. The committee will comprise an officer each from the civic health department, building development department, estate department, water supply department, sports department, as well as a member of Rashtriya Life Saving Society. The PMC had been forced to take similar steps in 2014, after a few accidental deaths in swimming pools in the city. The civic body had served notices to 60 of the 260 swimming pools inspected by the expert team, and even threatened to shut them down unless they took the requisite safety measures.
