THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The construction works of the Pirappancode international swimming pool have been completed and the facility will be inaugurated on Wednesday. Sports Minister K B Ganesh Kumar will inaugurate the state-of-the-art facility, which comprises 10 tracks, a diving pool and a warm-up pool, in a function that begins at 5 pm on Wednesday. The inauguration of the pool, whose work was started more than a decade ago,is being seen as the harbinger of the 35th National Games. The pool works were kicked off in 1999 with the land acquisition. The construction activities started in 2001, but the momentum of the work was soon lost and the project was almost on the verge of being written off. But the National Games came in as a stimulant and the project once again picked up pace. Sports Council president Padmini Thomas hoped that the pool and the associated construction would enhance the sports infrastructure in the State. ”It is a big project which has marked the State’s presence on the sporting map. Now we can host any international event there,” she said. The pool has 10 tracks, each 50 m long. To facilitate diving practice and competitions, a diving pool also has been built. Adjacent to the main pool, a warm-up pool has been constructed. The mainstay of the complex is the sports hostel, which can house around 200 inmates. The hostel has come as a big relief for the inmates of the Thycaud sports hostel, which has been functioning in a rented building. The perilous state of the hostel had even drawn flak from the Sports Minister himself. More than 60 inmates getting trained in Taekwondo, Kho-Kho and Swimming would be shifted to the new hostel after the inauguration.
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