For swimmers who’ve seen the Mahatma Gandhi Smarak swimming pool at Shivaji Park plagued by leakages, water supply shortages and repeated repairs, aspiring swimmers can now look forward to a state-of-the-art swimming pool.

Additional Municipal Commissioner (Projects) Manu Kumar Srivastava said CRZ clearance from the Ministry of Environment and Forests was received on February 18. “Tenders will soon be invited and work is expected to start from May, after which construction will be completed in 18 months,’’ he said.

The pool, which was lying unused since 2005 due to an undetected leak that drained water, has seen numerous protests over the years. The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena’s Dadar unit head Yeshwant Killedar, who had led a protest there in 2006, said: “The pool was facing innumerable leakages and despite repairs the civic body has failed to improve its condition. A lot of water has been wasted due to this.”

Reputed coach and former Arjuna awardee Smita Divgikar, who started her swimming career at this pool way back in 1966 before going on to win the national championship, was glad to hear of the upgradation. “I believe that children from middle-class families work truly hard at sporting activities and this was the only pool in the area which was available to everyone. Also, it’ll be one of the few 50-m pools necessary for competitive swimming,” she said, adding that renowned swimmers including at least 10 Shiv Chhatrapati awardees have trained at this pool.

However, some also felt the modernisation could result in privatisation. Dattakumar Acharya, a visitor since 1969, said: “If there is added construction and more facilities like parking, it is clear that the BMC wants to privatise the pool. At present, many middle-class people and children can use it, but after modernisation I am sure the entry will be restricted,’’ he said.

Srivastava said there will be four pools once the overhaul is complete. A racing pool (50 X 50 metres), a diving pool (25 X 22 metres), a warm-up pool (25 X 15 metres) and a children’s pool (18.5 X 10 metres).

“The water in the pool will be treated with ozonification, a first for a municipal pool,’’ he said.

“It will have a seating capacity of 5,000 and we will host the national games after its completion. These facilities were not available earlier,’’ he said.

The pool will also have facilities for parking—105 spots for four-wheelers alone. The total cost of construction is estimated to be Rs 19.64 crore.