KOZHIKODE: With drowning incidents on the rise in the state, the Fire and Rescue Services Department is on a course correction mission. Concerted efforts are on to identify water bodies prone to such incidents and ensure necessary preventive and remedial action.The department is preparing a list of vulnerable water tourism spots and other water bodies across the state.
In a joint mission, the fire force unit and the district administration in Palakkad already identified over 60 water bodies in the district - including rivers, dams, check dams, ponds and water pits in quarries - as most vulnerable to drowning. The authorities concerned will take precautionary steps, including setting up of cautionary boards and protective fences in and around these spots.
Director General of Fire and Rescue Services A Hemachandran told Express, “Unfortunately, every year, more than 1,000 people lose their lives in drowning incidents in the state. As in the case of road accidents, drowning incidents are uniformly distributed across the districts. Only a slew of measures, including awareness campaigns, precautionary measures and effective rescue operation strategies, can help improve the situation.”
Awareness campaign, training
Given the scary backdrop of drowning, the officer asked all district fire force units to intensify awareness campaigns aimed at averting drowning incidents at water tourism spots and other water bodies. The units have also been asked to continue with their training sessions on swimming with more vigour and on a regular basis.
Apart from providing training to the general public, the department has also been imparting a 25-day free training programme in swimming for school students. The officers have been instructed to impart training to maximum number of students with the consent of parents / teachers.The district fire force units have also been offering training to Community Rescue Volunteers (CRV) teams to independently handle emergency rescue operations.
“More Community Rescue Volunteers teams will be constituted in the state and adequate training will be provided. This will help improve the response time to a drowning incident,” said the officer. The department is also training more of its personnel in scuba diving.