3 days left to register pools, but compliance list stumps many in Ghaziabad

Ghaziabad: With the district administration directing all swimming pool operators to complete their registration within three days, the difficulty in fulfilling all the conditions in the compliance checklist may cause several housing societies to keep their pools closed.Authorities had introduced a sweeping set of compliance conditions for obtaining a no-objection certificates (NOCs) earlier this year. This includes disclosure of ownership structure, submitting qualification certificates of instructors, appointment of male and female lifeguards with documented credentials, as well as infrastructural changes like anti-skid tiles on pool decks, a boundary wall of at least eight foot around the pool and certification from fire safety, electrical safety, and public works and irrigation departments.Separate functional changing rooms for men and women, a proper filtration plant to ensure that used water is recycled and a proper channel for water outflow have also been made compulsory.According to an official, the move is aimed at maintaining safety and quality standards and is mandatory under the govt’s “Pay and Play” and “Come and Play” schemes. Those found not complying with the norms will face action, he added.While authorities do not have an exact number of registered and unregistered pools in Ghaziabad, district sports officer Ram Milan said 160 pools have already got their registrations after completing the checklist. “We have also received 12 new applications for registrations on Wednesday. The count of the total number of pools in the district will begin on Friday,” he told TOI.Representatives of several residential societies have called the conditions “extremely difficult” and said they were having trouble completing them. An Indirapuram-based apartment owners’ association (AOA), requesting anonymity, said that most of the residential societies were developed 20 years ago by different builders. “If we have to comply with the guidelines — like building an eight-foot wall around the pool — we have to change the entire structure,” he said.The representative pointed out it was not only the infrastructural norms but also the detailed personal ones that were preventing them from applying for the registration. “The guidelines also ask us to ensure a prior health check up for those using it. It is impossible to enforce that as an AOA,” he said.A representative from the association of another Indirapuram housing society said their swimming pool was handed over to a third party to get it ready for registration-related formalities.