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| July 20, 2005 | Wednesday | Jumadi-us-Sani 12, 1426 |
Pool water declared ‘unfit’ for swimming
PESHAWAR, July 19: A laboratory analysis of the water from the swimming pool selected to stage the junior group National swimming championship here from Aug 6 has revealed that the water is contaminated and unfit for swimming.
“The sample of the water from the swimming pool is chemically unfit for human consumption due to the presence of nitrite. It contains very heavy load of micro-organism (bacteria),” said, the report conducted at the Public Health Food Analysis, Laboratory, Peshawar.
The water sample had been sent to the laboratory for examination after eight local swimmers fell ill complaining of skin disease and throat infections.
The players are still bed-ridden because of their temperature.
The two-page report said that the swimming pool water contained organisms that can cause cholera, dysentery, typhoid, skin ailments, chest and throat infections and the deadly hepatitis.
“Water of the swimming pool is dangerous for human health and can cause epidemics of any of the mentioned diseases.
“It is unfit for any kind of human consumption, such as drinking, cooking, washing and swimming etc,” said the report, which has threatened the abandonment of the meet at the Adil Khan Swimming Pool at the Qayyum Sports Complex, Peshawar.
The laboratory report, which has termed the water as “grossly polluted,” has prompted the NWFP Swimming Association to demand the government take remedial measures to save the junior group championship from being cancelled.
Officials of the association alleged that the directorate of sports was responsible for the dilapidated condition of the swimming pool claiming that the directorate was allowing people to swim who did not take shower before starting swimming that made it polluted.
“On Sundays, 500-700 people swim in the pool simultaneously, while the water is not changed for months,” they said, adding that only two years ago, the government had spent R30million on its ceiling and installation of other facilities.
“The directorate board had given contract to a party that did not bother about its maintenance, but allowed everybody who could pay them,” they said, adding that stinking smell emanating from the muddy water also made it impossible for holding competitions.
MPA Nigat Yasmin Orakzai, president of the Peshawar District Swimming Association, said that she would take up the issue of the swimming pool on the floor of the provincial assembly if the government failed to take remedial measures before the start of the 3-day championship, commencing from Aug 6.
She said that the players needed temperature controlled swimming pools, where the swimmers could continue their practice throughout the year.
The building and running cost of the all-weather pools is high, but not impossible for the government, she said.
The swimming pool required to be maintained at 26 degree Celsius, where the swimmers should be allowed for daily practice of 3-4 hours in the evening, she suggested.
She said that the players were entirely dependent on swimming in the government-owned swimming pool, because there were two pools in the private sector that were not affordable for them.
She demanded the government hand over the swimming pool to the association so as to maintain it properly and the players could practice according to their needs.
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