A 10-lane swimming pool fit to host international events, and four other pools, will come up in Deshbandhu Park by the summer of 2010.

The parks and squares wing of the Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC) has undertaken the Rs 4.5-crore project.

“The water body in Deshbandhu Park will be turned into swimming pools with modern amenities. The project has a special significance because Arati Saha, the first Indian woman to cross the English Channel, had trained here,” said mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya.

“The biggest will be a 10-lane, 50 metre x 25 metre pool with a flat depth of two metre, which is being built to host international competitions. The surrounding areas will be beautified,” said architect Soumyendu Biswas, the director of Coordinate Techno-Consultants, which has been appointed by the civic body for the project.

The three smaller pools, measuring 15 metre x 10 metre, will be for the training of the members of three clubs in the Shyambazar park. Another 25 metre x 15 metre pool will be built for the clubs to hold swimming events. A plant will be set up for cleaning and recycling pool water at regular intervals. About 4,700 sq m will be covered under the project.

There are plans for a warm-up pool and a diving pool in the second phase. Work on first phase will begin in October and will be completed in 18 months, said Biswas.

About Rs 2 crore of project funds will come from the state coffers. The rest of the money will be provided by the CMC, the Calcutta Metropolitan Development Authority and local MLA Sadhan Pande from his area development fund.

The civic body had taken up the project in 2005, but the work was held up because of a lack of funds.

The water body is in a poor condition. In the absence of guards, visitors often dirty the water. Homeless people regularly wash clothes in the water body. Scum has gathered on its sides.

“Once the project is completed, we will be able to host international meets at Deshbandhu Park. However, equipment to control water temperature and underwater cameras have become standard in international swimming pools,” said Bhaskar Sinha, the general secretary of Calcutta Sports Development Council.

A civic official said temperature control equipment and underwater cameras won’t be part of the first phase of the project because of a lack of funds.

There are four other 50-metre, eight-lane swimming pools in the city — Subhas Sarobar in Beleghata, Eastern Railway Swimming Complex in Behala (10 lane) and the pools in Kishore Bharati Stadium in Jadavpur and Fort William.