Bhubaneswar: The state government is making every effort to open the new swimming pool at Kalinga Sports Complex by May this year.

Sports minister Chandra Sarathi Behera said this in a written reply to a question in the Assembly.

In September 2017, the authorities had closed the swimming pool complex for construction of an additional gallery for the hockey stadium for the Hockey World Cup. The move drew severe criticism from players and other users of the pool.

"The new swimming pool will come up at a cost of Rs 4.57 crore. The existing pool is to be demolished to increase the seating capacity of the hockey stadium. We have also advised the swimmers practising here to make alternative arrangements for the time being," said a sports department official.

Sources in the state sports and youth services department said the swimming complex had been set up in 2006 at a cost of nearly Rs 6 crore. The complex included facilities of a warm-up swimming pool, a pool for kids, a diving pool and another Olympics-size swimming pool. While more than 200 swimmers used the pool on a daily basis, the number climbs up to 700 in summer.

Officials in the sports department said that there would be no diving pool in the complex and only two pools (one for practice and another for championship) will be there. However, the diving pool, which used to be there in the sports complex will be demolished.

"The last six months has been difficult for us because we have had to find suitable pools for practice. While some of us were forced to travel all the way to Cuttack to train at the OCA swimming pool, others were forced to use smaller pools in various hotels. The pool should be ready at the earliest," said a swimmer.