Swimmers in Alipurduar who intend to beat the heat by plunging into a pool, and children and others in the town who want to learn to swim, have reasons to cheer.
The north Bengal development department has taken the task of building a swimming pool in the town. A sum of ₹2.88 crore has been allocated for the project, and the tender process has been initiated, officials of the department said on Friday.
Sourav Bhattacharjee, executive engineer of the department, said: “The tender process will be over in a month. Once it is done, the work order will be issued to the agency concerned.”
Sources said the pool would come up in ward 18 of the town on a plot of the McWilliam Institute, an old and reputed school of north Bengal.
“Additional electrification will be done in the area. Also, CCTV cameras will be installed in and around the pool,” said a source.
In Alipurduar, there was a longstanding demand from the residents for a swimming pool in the town.
“A section of people take their children to Cooch Behar (which is around 25km away) to learn swimming. But most of the residents could not do it due to cost and time issues. It is good that finally, we will have a pool here,” said a resident.
He pointed out that earlier, marches were held on the demand, and many memorandums were submitted to the district administration. “But nothing happened.
In recent times, Suman Kanjilal, the local MLA, took the initiative and could finally get funds for the project,” he added.
Sports lovers of the town have also welcomed the decision. Parag Bhowmik, an athletic coach based in the town, said it will help budding athletes.
“So far, there was no place in Alipurduar to learn
swimming. Now we hope that hundreds will join the pool. Athletes and sportspeople from other fields also need a swimming pool for exercise and fitness. The pool will also help them,” said Bhowmik.