The Bombay High Court’s 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 court’s decision, they feel the order will keep a check on the BMC’s 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, petitioner’s 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 children’s 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 BMC’s 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.

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