Shillong: The first temperature-controlled indoor swimming pool has been launched in the Meghalaya capital, which will make swimming an year-round activity.

The True North Leisure Centre is located at Mission Compound here, and was inaugurated on Saturday.

The pool, which incorporates a kids' section as well, is of medium depth, with the deepest end at five-and-a-half feet.

While day-users are welcome, members also have access to a purpose-built jacuzzi and sauna for relaxation and recuperation. A cafeteria, run for the benefit of Providence School, is also located on the premises.

The facility is an initiative of three friends - Robinson Jyrwa, Lindsay Diengdoh and Gary Jarman Lamare. Lamare was the first from Meghalaya to scale Mt Everest. "We had the vision for this project nine years ago, but back then the technology to heat a pool was not made domestically and we would have had to import it from abroad at a great cost," Jyrwa said the day the pool was launched.

"It was only two years ago that we found a manufacturer in Chennai who made the equipment," he said.

The trio, who describe themselves as a "tripod", wanted to do something to improve the swimming scenario in Shillong.

"As kids we didn't have anyone to teach us swimming. We just went to Crinoline Falls and picked it up over time. Most swimmers in Shillong are self-taught but it's very important that children receive proper instruction. We're looking to partner schools which are interested in making swimming a part of their curriculum," Jyrwa said.

A gym will also come up in one-and-a-half months.