Five years ago, when the country’s only swimming pool reopened after being closed for a year, membership was Nu 300 a month for children and Nu 500 for adults.
Today, the more than a month old new pool charges Nu 700 a month for children and Nu 1,500 for adults. Annual membership rates for student are Nu 2,500 and Nu 6,000 for adults as compared to Nu 1,500 and Nu 2,500 respectively. Despite the better facilities, swimming enthusiasts are not too happy with the new hike. “The rates are very high, hopefully they could come down a bit,” said the former pool in charge, Bhupen Chettri. “Maybe the new machines take up more power and the pool is bigger so they charge high,” added Bhupen Chettri.
There are so far only 27 members, adult and student.
The new pool in-charge, Tawchu, said that membership is less because most swimmers are individual users, who pay and use on hourly bases. They are charged Nu 200 an hour.
Observers point out that public recreational facilities are not supposed to be charged this high. “In other places, they charge Nu 50 an hour,” said one.
Tawchu however denies that the fees are expensive. “We have to pay the water and electricity bills besides the salary of our employees.”
The pool has two lifeguards, a sweeper and a plumber. The lifeguards are paid Nu 4,500 a month. Towchu said that there are always one or two swimmers, who almost drown in the pool and have to be rescued by the lifeguards. He said that, unlike in the past when the pool was cleaned only once a week, today the pool is cleaned every day and chemicals added for sanitation.
Bhupen Chettri however said that then too the pool was cleaned every day and the water not drained but filtered and reused. “It’s done like this everywhere.” Then, there were also two lifeguards, an in-charge and a plumber.
Towchu said that they are planning to limit the number of membership because of the limited pool capacity. The adult pool can accommodate 50 swimmers at a time and ten in the children’s pool.
Except for Mondays, the pool will remain open every Tuesday to Sunday from 1:00 pm to 8:00 pm. Discount rate for students is Nu 100 an hour and Nu 75 for a child or minor. Source: Kuenselonline
