A swimming pool for buffaloes too in Padubidri

Rs 15 lakhs spent on pool per year

The buffaloes belonging to NRI businessman Karinje Vinu Vishwanath Shetty of Padubidri can have the best time of their life, thanks to the exclusive swimming pool constructed for them in Padabettu in Padubidri.

The 10 feet deep, 40 meter wide and 40 meter long swimming pool built at a cost of Rs 20 lakhs has become cynosure of the spectators.

Shetty, the man behind this novel project, told Deccan Herald that his passion for ‘Kambala’ has made him to think and add more comforts to his buffaloes that he has reared for the purpose.

In fact, the swimming pool is built for the buffaloes that are used in “Kambala,” the popular rural sport played in slushy water in coastal Karnataka.

He purchased a pair of buffalo some 13 years ago that brought him laurels by winning the race in Kambala within two weeks. This was the beginning for Vinu who never looked back thereafter. He said his buffaloes have won many competitions and the medal number is somewhere around 175 in the past 13 years.

Currently he has five pairs of buffaloes and he is deeply committed to the purpose of providing all sorts of comforts and facilities to his buffaloes.

The palatial swimming pool is situated in the land of about 6.5 acres in Padabettu. Vinu who owns chains of hotels in Dubai wanted to try something innovative to keep his buffaloes always fit and healthy and the result was the swimming pool that turned out to be the amusement hub cum gym center to his buffaloes. The interlocks surrounding the swimming pool add to the richness of the pool. The shed is built at the cost of Rs 8.16 lakhs.

His buffaloes have made history by covering 140 meters in 12.5 seconds. He says he wants the time to be reduced to 12 seconds and his buffaloes are trained for the purpose, he added.

The cost to maintain the pool comes around Rs 15 lakhs per year. He uses four motor pumps to fill and empty the swimming pool.

" I love these buffaloes like my children. Routine exercise and regular swimming is essential to keep these buffaloes fit and fine. They are made to swim twice a day for half an hour each and before that they are cleaned by giving  hot water bath in another tank. The swimming pool is cleaned once in a week," he said.

Vinu has named his buffaloes Gundu, Sanna Raja, Kodya, Kathya, Pandu, Kutty, Munna, Raja, Pancha and Rama.