Mangaluru: A state-of-the art swimming pool of Olympics standard has come up on the campus of St Aloysius College and it will be inaugurated on December 19.

The pool has been built at the cost of Rs 8.25 croreand the water will be recycled with Ozone water purification system.

Speaking to media on Friday here, Principal of St Aloysius College Fr Swebert D’Silva said, “The pool will be inaugurated at 3.30 pm on December 19. Rev Fr Jerome Stanislaus D’Souza, provincial, Karnataka Jesuit Province will preside over the ceremony. Food and Civil Supplies Minister U T Khader, MLAs J R Lobo and K Abhayachandra Jain, Chief Whip of the government in Legislative Council Ivan D’Souza and Whip of the Opposition Party in the Council Captain Ganesh Karnik will be the chief guests.”

Fr D’Silva said that the pool aims at imparting swimming skills to students, for whom it is imperative among other skills like Yoga, Karate to name a few. To ensure safety of the students, adequate number of life guards will be appointed. A retaining wall is built around the swimming complex to check students from trespassing the area.

Convener of the swimming pool committee N G Mohan said, “It is 25 metres wide and 50 metres long comprising eight lanes in line with the olympic standards. The minimum depth is four foot and maximum up to 12 foot. Besides, a baby pool or mini swimming pool is built with Rs 26 lakh donated by the St Aloysius College Alumni Association (SACAA). A gymnasium has also been built above the changing rooms. Of the total amount, UGC has provided Rs 1 crore, SACAA has given Rs 1.75 crore and the management has borne the remaining amount.”

Mohan said, “In most of the drowning cases reported in media in the recent past, the victims were unaware of swimming skills. The pool will surely address such requirements, aiming to bring down the number of such cases.”

Further “the entry fee is essential to keep the pool as the maintenance cost is estimated at Rs 1.25 lakh per month,” he added.