No law on swimming pools, claim Cops

Police investigating cases of drowning in swimming pools point out that there is no law specific to pools on the lines of the legislation that regulates, say, the erection, maintenance and working of elevators.For example, the Tamilnadu Lifts Act, 1997 provides guidelines on the building and maintaining of lifts and gives officials the power to grant, cancel or suspend licenses. But in the case of swimming pools, though approval from various government departments, such as the Chennai Corporation, the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority, Metro Water board and fire services, is needed for getting licenses, the police claim there are no strict guidelines for the pool owner to follow.In the absence of a separate Act, “We book pool drowning such cases under Section 174 of the CrPC — unnatural deaths — or register it under IPC 304A as an act of negligence before arresting the person responsible,” a police official explains.“Besides, we can only register a case when a drowning is reported. We don’t have the right to check whether the swimming pools have lifeguards or fulfill safety requirements. There has to be a watchdog,” a senior police official emphasises.According to the police, the licensing authorities should take stringent action by shutting down pools where fatal accidents take place. “There is a sanitary inspector to check on the maintenance of the pool but there no written guidelines,” a Corporation official agrees.