BMC floats ₹23-crore tender for swimming pool in Bandra West
Since there are no swimming pools between Shivaji Park and Andheri West, this facility is also expected to benefit residents from Bandra, Khar and Santacruz, all of whom currently travel to Shivaji Park to access the civic-run swimming pool
Mumbai: More than a decade since it was first proposed, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has finally issued a ₹23-crore tender for the construction of a swimming pool at AK Vaidya Ground in Bandra West.
Since there are no swimming pools between Shivaji Park and Andheri West, this facility is expected to benefit not only residents from Bandra West but also Bandra East, Khar West and East, and Santacruz West and East, all of whom currently travel to Shivaji Park in Dadar to access the civic-run swimming pool.
As a corporator of BMC ward no 97, Bandra resident Rahebar Khan said he first mooted the proposal to construct a swimming pool in 2009-10, but there was no progress. In 2017, after his wife Mumtaz took over as the corporator, she continued to push the proposal forward.
“In 2020, Covid broke out, and the process was delayed until 2022. In 2023, we pursued it again with the BMC, and the civic body finally agreed to approve it this year,” said Khan.
In her letter to BMC dated October 2, 2023, Mumtaz reiterated the need for a swimming pool in Bandra West. “I have been pursuing for years to accommodate a swimming facility at A K Vaidya Ground, Bandra West, which is well connected with roads and accessible to adjoining areas by road. It is a big ground which, is designated as an open space...This location has at least 10 schools and colleges surrounding at a distance of 1 to 3km. The school and college students can avail the facility, and it will be a healthy physical training (sic),” the letter read.
The swimming pool is being built on land that was reserved for a playground. “From the time of the application in March last year, the reservation to include the swimming pool in the playground came through by September, said a BMC official.
The official proposal for the pool was approved last month. “This is not an Olympic-size pool, but a training kind of pool measuring 15x25 metres. The pool will be constructed on 30% of the playground area, with the remaining 70% for public use. This way it balances the needs of both a swimming facility and open space in the playground,” said the BMC official.
By July 30, a contractor with the lowest bid will be assigned to this project, and work is likely to start in September depending on the weather. “By August 2025, the pool should be open to the public,” the official added.
In the last year, six new BMC swimming pools have been built in Andheri East, Andheri West, Malad, Dahisar, Worli, and Vikhroli.
Nitu Bhambri, a resident of Bandra, is happy about having a swimming pool in Bandra West. “We have been living here for 40 years. Of course, we expect such developments.”
Even Bandra BJP MLA Ashish Shelar was pushing for the swimming pool. In a post on X in January, Shelar said, “Delighted that we had fruitful discussions with @mybmc officials to build a brand-new swimming pool at Vandre Reclamation in our Bandra West Assembly constituency. It will be a state-of-the-art facility, which will cater to the needs of our Bandra residents, children and adults. I am confident that it will be a game-changer for our community.”
However, not all residents are pleased with the plan. Bandra resident Vidya Vaidya expressed her concerns, saying, “We, the residents, would prefer the swimming pool at an open space BKC block A. The playground space shouldn’t be reduced.”
Another resident and secretary of Salsette Catholic Cooperative Housing Society, Cornel Gonsalves, said, the construction of the swimming pool is a political gimmick. “All this is happening because of the elections being around. Why is the development happening now? Where was this development a few years ago?”