A safety net between life and ruins: Thrissur’s aquatic complex facing a slow death

 At first glance, a green net spread over the kids’ pool at the Thrissur Aquatic Complex is bound to catch anyone’s attention. Apparently, it is not intended as a decorative ornament. It has instead been installed to prevent piles of concrete debris from falling from the ageing roof onto children and others who use the pool to learn swimming.

The swimming pool, which helped the district produce several talented swimmers while also imparting vital lifesaving skills, has ironically now become a serious safety hazard. Pieces of concrete keep falling from the roof of the indoor pool due to years of unattended deterioration.

Although the net has been installed to catch the falling debris, it may not be strong enough to withstand large chunks of concrete. As an additional safety measure, plastic ropes have been tied beneath the net to reinforce it.

Hundreds of concrete pieces, of all sizes, that have already dropped from the roof can be seen lodged inside the net. Weekly cleaning of the net has now become an extra responsibility for the staff.

“Concrete pieces continue to fall as the roof has deteriorated over the years. In several places, portions of the concrete have broken away, exposing the steel reinforcement bars. Some of the exposed sections have even revealed pieces of construction sacks that were apparently left inside the structure during construction,” said C Sumesh, the President of Thrissur District Sports Council.

The indoor swimming pool at the Aquatic Complex was constructed 33 years ago. It was inaugurated on August 27, 1993, by the then Chief Minister K Karunakaran. Engineers had reportedly said that the building, which is constantly exposed to moisture, had an expected lifespan of around 25 years.

Although the roof deteriorated substantially, an expert team from the Thrissur Government Engineering College reported no structural weakness in the building during an inspection. Instead, the team recommended dismantling the concrete roof and constructing a new one as a possible solution.

The building has remained in ruins for years. Thrissur MLA Rajan J Pallan said that the condition of the swimming pool resulted from the long-term neglect by the previous government and that he would bring the issue to the attention of the Chief Minister and the Minister for Sports.

The cost of repairs is estimated at around ₹60 lakh to ₹1 crore. The Thrissur District Sports Council are struggling to find the funds without any significant independent source of revenue.

With hundreds of people using the facility every day, intervention by the Sports Department and the state government appears to be the only way to revive the ageing facility and ensure the safety of people.