The pools where the best swimmers in the city learnt to stay afloat are struggling to survive in the face of civic neglect.

Hedua, Deshbandhu Park, College Square and Padmapukur Tank, maintained by the Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC), are home to a number of clubs where several medal-winners once practised. The current members spend more time countering infrastructure problems and challenges posed by encroachers than on cutting down their timings.

“I took my first lessons in swimming at Hedua. The water was a lot cleaner then. With a minimum subscription of Rs 130, it’s not possible for the clubs to maintain the pools by themselves. The CMC must not shrug off its responsibilities,” said Utpal Mitra, who was captain of the Indian swimming team in the 1982 Asian Games.

Water sports are being pursued at Hedua since 1924. The three clubs that operate out of the park have produced champions, including divers Chandana Sarkar and Satabdi Das, who represented the country. The current crop has to dodge algae, flowers, plastic packets and other waste to swim a lap.

“There is no security guard to stop outsiders from throwing stuff into the pool or washing clothes,” said Sanat Ghosh, the general secretary of National Swimming Association. About 500 have quit the club in the past three years because of the poor quality of the water.

The situation is no different at Deshbandhu Park, where a corner of the pool has been converted into a waste dump. “I have to cover my nose while walking in the park,” said Abhinaba Majumder, a retired bank officer who visits the premises every morning.

“We have repeatedly requested the CMC to clean the park but have received no response. There are holes in the boundary wall, making it easy for vagrants to walk in and dirty the compound,” said Asoke Samanta, the secretary of Deshbandhu Swimming and Athletic Club.

The lack of security guards has posed law and order problems. “Recently, the body of an unidentified middle-aged man was found floating in the water,” added Samanta.

College Square is not any better but the conditions could improve for the swimmers, with the six clubs forming a committee last year and taking over responsibility of maintaining the park from the CMC.

“We are not totally dependent on the CMC for the development of the park. They provide us with a part of the funds, our committee handles the maintenance of the pool,” said Goutam Mullick, the secretary of College Square Swimming Club.

However, even the committee has failed to clear the green tinge of the water.

Which is nothing when compared with Padmapukur Tank, where garbage and dead plants are dumped into the water. The banks are littered with bottles of alcohol. Street-dwellers wash and bathe in the tank while children train.

“My son often suffers from itches and rashes after a session in the pool,” said Anima Das, a resident of Madhab Chatterjee Lane.

“We have tried to stop outsiders from using the pool and failed. Residents of the nearby shanties refuse to listen to us. They have even threatened us and once roughed up a security guard,” said Sudhir Das, an executive committee member of the Padmapukur Young Men’s Association.

“The place has become a den of criminals at night. Some swimmers suffered cuts after stepping on broken beer bottles thrown in the pool by them,” said Chandan Roy, a member of the club and a resident of the area.

Official version: “The civic body cannot police the parks across the city. The clubs make huge profits by training thousands of students. They have made it a habit of blaming the CMC for work they should do themselves. The College Square model should be followed everywhere,” said mayoral council member (parks and gardens) Faiyaz Ahmed Khan.