21 June,2011 09:40 AM IST | | Sudeshna Chowdhury
Recently, an unidentified person was drowned in the sea off the Marine Drive coast. With the arrival of the monsoon, incidents of drowning are on the rise. While authorities claim that they are not equipped enough to handle such situations, others say that it is lack of awareness among people, which contributes to the problem
It was quite an unusual scene at Marine Drive on Friday, June 17. A massive rescue operation was launched after a 20-year-old boy was swept away by high tide. According to officials, the incident happened at 9: 30 am in the morning.
As onlookers stopped by to inquire about the incident, officials from the Fire Brigade, Coast Guard, Indian Navy, local police, began a frantic search to locate the boy. An official from the fire department said, "We received a call from someone.
He told us that a boy had perched himself in the rocky area below. He was almost 200 metres away from the tetrapods.
Since it was low tide he managed to reach there, but he couldn't come back due to high tide." According to media reports, the body of the boy was washed ashore and was stuck between the tetrapods, late in the evening.
Careless
The incident, however, did not deter people gathered in the area, from enjoying the monsoon. Many were even showing off their acrobatic skills, trying to balance themselves on one leg while walking on the parapet at Marine Drive. Repeated warnings from the authorities, asking them not to walk close on the parapet, fell on deaf ears.
For example, when a police official asked a man to get down from the parapet, he shot back at the official, saying, "You don't worry about my safety. I know swimming and I can manage very well on my own."
Sachin Talekar, station officer, from Mumbai fire brigade, said, "The problem is with the people's attitude. They don't pay heed to the high tide warnings. Why do you have to venture into the deep sea, in the first place?"
Awareness
With the arrival of the monsoon, one hears about numerous incidents of people drowning in open ditches and storm water drains. Some of them even get washed away by the sea. While many blame lack of vigilance by patrolling authorities, others believe that it is lack of awareness among citizens, which result in such accidents.
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Sunil Kanojia, President of The Sea Guardian Lifeguard, a Non Governmental Organisation (NGO) said, "If we tell the kids to stay away from venturing deep into the sea, their parents start fighting with us. They tell us, he is our child, why are you people bothered? Sometimes, they get local goons from their areas to threaten us.
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People need to change their attitude." Kanojia's organisation, which was started in 2007, operates at Juhu beach. "We have 22 lifeguards with us and most of them are Koli fishermen. So they are good swimmers.
Lifeguards should have modern equipment at their disposal, which can help them save lives," he said. Talking about awareness among people, Kanojia points out, "there is a need to spread awareness at school and college levels.u00a0You have lessons on road safety; similar lessons should be there on sea safety."
Co-ordination
Apart from awareness, many blame lack of co-ordination between different authorities while carrying out such rescue operations. RV Prasad, Coast Guard, Public Relations Officer (PRO) said, "It is the duty of the coastal police to respond during such emergencies.
And it is the Indian Navy which is equipped to carry out deep sea rescue operations." Another official from the Coast Guard department, who refused to be named, said that, the Coast Guard does respond during emergencies. "We get a lot of hoax calls.
So whenever we receive an emergency call, we follow a protocol. We call back on the same number, to cross check or we ask the caller to fax details of the location to us," he said.
Training
But are various departments in the city equipped enough to handle such crisis? M. V. Deshmukh, Director, Maharashtra Fire & Emergency Services and Fire Adviser laments the absence of an organisation, which is primarily meant for handling such situations.
Said Deshmukh, "Such rescue operations are not among the core functions of the fire department. We are trained in fire fighting and we carry out rescue operations during building collapse. We have a lifeguard department but they need to have proper training.
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It is the Coast Guard and the Indian Navy who have access to choppers, etcetera. Rescue operations in still waterbodies and in deep seas are two different things. However, from our side we are ready to co-operate with authorities during crises."
As a solution, Deshmukh suggests, "Like drunken driving, there should be a crackdown on this problem too. People who are found venturing into danger zones should be arrested. Infact, it should be made a non-bailable offence."
Warning
Constant patrolling and posters, warning people of the danger ahead, might help to a certain extent, said Deshmukh. "Posters indicating the number of deaths at that beach need to be put up by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
People might then take their safety more seriously," added Deshmukh.
Mahesh Narvekar, Chief Officer of the Disaster Management Cell of the BMC, claims that posters can be seen at locations prone to such incidents, to warn people from venturing into deep sea.
Lifeguards from The Sea Guardian at work in Juhu beach
But Kanojia, lifeguard at Juhu beach, claims that he has never seen any such posters. Others say, that some of the posters that are there have not been repainted and cannot be seen due to their faded colours.
Service
The BMC presently has 33 lifeguards along with 165 firemen, who are trained in flood and sea rescue operations. Explained Divisional Fire Officer, P S Rahangdale, "The BMC has announced high tide days. So people should be careful during those days.
We have also augmented ambulance services in six beaches, which have maximum number of drowning cases. These ambulances with one station officer, three firemen and a few people from our Flood Rescue Team (FRT) are stationed at Girgaum, Dadar, Juhu, Versova, Aksa and Gorai beaches."
Talking about this specific incident on Friday, Narvekar said , "Rescue operations during high tide is difficult. Even the Indian Navy was finding it difficult to carry out the rescue operation."
The good news is that, many bystanders, who had come to take a stroll down Marine Drive claimed that this incident was a lesson for them. Said Sonal Mehta from Andheri, "I am usually cautious while walking on the parapet. But, after this incident I will be more careful."
Naina Shringarpure from Andheri and Swapna Vaidhya from Borivali too shared the same sentiment.Ravi Chorge, who regularly comes to Marine Drive from Churchgate said that the problem was tackling college students. "They are very rude when you warn them," said Chorge.
Latest Incidents
An unidentified person on Friday drowned in the sea off the Marine Drive coast and his body was later pulled out from beneath the rocks, police said.
Marine Drive Police said that around 9.15 am, a man, aged approximately 25 years, was spotted sitting on the rocks along the coast, in front of Sunder Mahal in South Mumbai. It is believed that the massive waves lashing on the rocks pulled him into deep waters.
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A passerby, who saw the person drowning, informed the police control room around 9.30 am, after which, a fire engine was rushed to the spot.
However, due to the high tide, the fire brigade officials could not locate the body. The Indian Navy's helicopter, Chetak, was put into service, but the man could not be located. Around 4.30 pm, the body was found stuck in the rocks and was pulled out by the fire brigade, Z M Gharad of Marine Drive Police Station said.
The police after a post mortem report of the body from GT Hospital has ascertained that it is a case of drowning. Nothing has been found on the body, except for his blue and white T-shirt, that could have ascertained his identity, police said.
A few days ago, a commerce graduate, who hailed from Amravati threatened to take a 'jal samadhi' if the government did not fulfil his demands. The man jumped into the sea at Colaba and demanded for the immediate hanging of Ajmal Qasab. He also wanted the government to bring back all the black money from abroad. The man was arrested after being rescued.u00a0u00a0
A student drowned off Arnala beach in Virar a few days ago. The victim along with his friends went to the beach for a picnic. His body was found on the beach later. The post mortem report confirmed death due to drowning
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO)...
Drowning is the 3rd leading cause of unintentional injury death worldwide, accounting for 7 per cent of all injury related deaths.u00a0
There are an estimated 388,000 annual drowning deaths worldwide.u00a0
Global estimates may significantly underestimate the actual public health problem related to drowning.u00a0
Children, males and individuals with increased access to water are most at risk of drowning.u00a0
Lifeguards
33 Total no of lifeguards
12 permanent
21 contractual basis
165 Firemen
Rescue call
108
(Disaster Management Cell)
1554
(Coast Guard) in case of an emergency
Source: Mumbai Fire Department
