MUMBAI, July 12 -- The members of Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi staged a protest outside the Kalidas swimming pool at the Priyadarshi Indira Gandhi Sports Complex in Mulund West, demanding it be open to the public at the earliest. The pool has been for over a year due to renovations. Over 40 children and adults were forced to enrol at far-off pools in Thane or Chembur. "It takes about 30 to 40 minutes for us to travel to the pool in Thane, while it would have taken only 10 minutes to reach the one in Mulund," said Atul Prabhu, a resident of Mulund who travels to and fro for his 13-year-old son every day. Rakesh Shetty, a member of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee, wondered what renovations have been going on for so long. "The civic body took a tender of over Rs.7 crores last year," he said. A BMC officer in charge of the pool said that since its inception in 1985, the pool has undergone no major maintenance work. "The estimated completion time is two years. We have asked the contractor to complete it before that. Meanwhile, we have offered the subscribers to use their membership at the Vikhroli swimming pool," he said. Shreya Jachak...