Kids turn artificial pond in Navi Mumbai into swimming pool

Children seen playing and swimming in the pond

Children were spotted having a lot of fun swimming at an artificial pond created for Ganpati visarjan by the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation at Airoli-based Rajiv Gandhi Maidan at Sector-3. While locals have asked the civic body to take action, the latter is of the opinion that parents should take care of their kids.

In order to manage crowds, the civic body has set up 150 artificial ponds across the city. However, since the last couple of days, kids were found to be playing and swimming at the Rajiv Gandhi Maidan pond, raising questions about the security at the spot.

Local resident Nikesh Balkhele told mid-day, "No safety measures are in place at the pond and kids swim daily. Who will be responsible if anything happens to them? After I complained to the civic body, they changed the pond's water."

However, Navi Mumbai G-ward officer Mahendra Sapre said, "Kids will play but their parents have to take care of them." When mid-day asked Sapre whether the civic body would take any responsibility for the pond's security, he said, "The civic body set up an artificial pond, nowhere is it mentioned that it's a swimming pool."