Swimming pool death case: Managers go over safety measures after Goregaon incident

MUMBAI: Many swimming pools in the city are reviewing their safety measures in the wake of the death of a seven-year-old in a Goregaon pool on Sunday.
Administrators said that large crowds of swimmers flock to pools every summer. It is therefore crucial that all precautions are taken to ensure that nobody comes to harm. BMC-run pools—such as Mahatma Gandhi Olympic Memorial Swimming Pool in Shivaji Park, Lions Club pool in Ghatkopar, and Sardar Vallabhai Patel swimming pool in Kandivli—reportedly increased the number of lifeguards and life-saving equipment this summer.
“Normally, in May, the number of students enrolling to learn swimming increases. At our Shivaji Park pool, we have 25 lifeguards working in shifts, and at the pools in Ghatkopar and Kandivli we have deployed five to seven lifeguards each,” said deputy municipal commissioner (gardens) Suhas Karvande.
Lifeguards apart, there are other requisites that many pool managements are going over after Aryan Parab’s death on Sunday.
Anil Joseph, who is a member of Willingdon Gymkhana as well as of D’Monte Park Recreation Centre (DPRC), maintained that parents should be allowed to sit poolside to keep a watch on their children. “Kids indulge in mischief and push each other. It becomes difficult for lifeguards to keep an eye on them all,” Joseph said. “The two clubs that I am member of permit parents to sit around the pool, which is a good practice.”
Cornel K Gonsalves, joint general secretary and treasurer of Bandra Gymkhana and secretary of DPRC, too felt that parents should be allowed to accompany children to the pool area. At the same time, he warned that parents should not come in the way of coaches and lifeguards’ work.
“We ensure that children have floats. We change our equipment every two years and have invested in life-saving gear,” said Gonsalves.