No help from BMC, Bandra cops ‘appoint’ hawkers as lifeguards

The Bandra police have unofficially appointed eight unlicensed hawkers as lifeguards at Bandstand and authorised them to prevent visitors from venturing into the sea In return these individuals including pani puri samosa and bhel puri stall owners have been granted tacit permission to ply their trade at the siteRecently Jyoti Sonar a 32yearold Rabale resident drowned while posing for photographs with her husband on the rocks at the popular spotJitendra SinghBandstand a 12kilometre stretch along the cityrsquos western coast encompasses the 17th century Bandra Fort hotel Taj Lands End and numerous celebritiesrsquo residences According to local sources over 10000 people visit the spot daily including college students and couplesWhen midday visited Bandstand on Thursday to assess the safety measures implemented there no precautions had been taken Many couples and individuals were seen posing for pictures on slippery rocksVisitors sitting along the shoreline at Bandra Bandstand on Thursday PicsAshish RajeThe team also encountered eight lifeguards who claimed that the Bandra police had deployed them to prevent anyone from accessing the rocks The lifeguards who said they werenrsquot paid for their efforts were busy using sticks to deter people from climbing down onto the rocks The vendorsrsquo experience is restricted to assisting the cops during Ganesh visarjans and lending a hand during rescue operationsOne such lifeguard Jitendra Singh 25 a resident of Ganesh Nagar at Bandstand explained ldquoI was born and raised here We are also members of the Ganpati visarjan mandal and we lend a hand during the Ganpati visarjan at Bandstand A few days ago a woman fell into the sea and drowned while her children captured videos and photos of her husband and her Her body was found lodged between the rocksrdquoBirju Rane snacks vendorBirju Rane snacks vendorHe added ldquoAfter this incident the Bandra cops deployed us here and instructed us to prohibit anyone from entering the seawater and rocky area The rocks are slippery which is why the mishap occurred I also operate a pani puri stall We have been urging people not to go on the rocks but nobody listens to us The police advised us to print Tshirts with the word lsquolifeguardrsquo and the Mumbai Police logo We have placed an order for themrdquoAccording to Singh the lifeguards are patrolling the rocky stretch from the fort to the starting point of Bandstand near actor Salman Khanrsquos residence Galaxy Apartment ldquoMost of the visitors gather outside Shah Rukh Khanrsquos bungalow Mannat and they later venture onto the beach areardquo said SinghBirju Rane 40 who runs a chaat stall was also spotted keeping an eye on visitorsHe told midday ldquoWe are fishermen and swim in the sea regularly so we have adequate experience We participate in Ganpati visarjan at Bandstand every year We also possess safety equipment such as safety rings lifejackets ropes and other important items We utilise these during the visarjan and we are using them here as well right nowrdquoHe added ldquoI prepare chai and samosas at my stall So far I have saved over 50 lives at this location which is why the police offered us this job We have also requested the police to hire us permanently as lifeguards This would secure our future and provide an income source for our families as well as an opportunity to save livesrdquoAt Juhu Versova Madh and Aksa Beach authorities have deployed dozens of lifeguards to ensure the safety of visitors However at Bandstand which is visited by approximately 10000 people daily no legitimate lifeguard is presentVinayak Vispute ward officer H West said ldquoBandstand does not come under the beach area Itrsquos a rock sea area We have not deployed any lifeguards at this place because itrsquos not a beach We informed the Bandra police to deploy more staff at this spot and increase patrolling there Itrsquos the policersquos duty to stop people from entering the rocky patch Lifeguards are present at all beaches across the cityrdquoKrishnakant Upadhyay DCP Zone 9 said ldquoThe lifeguards who reside at Bandstand are swimmers who regularly help us during Ganpati visarjans and other occasions They have saved many lives These lifeguards are locals and are considered a policefriendly group We deployed them at Bandstand because no actual lifeguards are availablerdquo50No of lives Birju Rane claims to have savedDrowning incidents at BandstandJuly 10 2023 Jyoti Sonar who was picnicking with her husband and three children lost her life after a wave dragged her into the seaJune 2019 Mithunkumar Kattar 28 drowned despite the efforts of a local to save him Kattar was rushed to Bhabha hospital where he was declared deadOctober 2019 Two friends Ram Gupta 25 and Priti Gupta 20 fell into the seawater A local fisherman jumped in and saved Priti but Ram drownedMay 2017 An engineering student Meenakshi Priya Rajesh 21 was standing close to the water near the selfie point at Bandra Fort when a wave hit her She fell into the water She was on vacation in MumbaiAugust 2017 Sohail Shaikh 20 met his end near Taj Lands EndJanuary 2016 College students Tarannum Ansari 18 Anjum Khan 19 and Mustareem Khan 19 slipped while taking a selfie near the sea A passerby Ramesh Walunj 35 jumped into the water after spotting one of the girls Unfortunately he was unable to save Tarannum and he also drowned