The lack of safety measures to prevent accidents at the Alappuzha Beach, has turned the tourist destination into a danger zone.
Tourists who arrive at the beach to enjoy during their leisure time are facing the threat of sea attacks. This can be overcome by implementing adequate precautionary measures at the beach.
The Tourism Department which has been managing one of the biggest beaches in the state has become a mute spectator of recent accidents such as the drowning of a youth two weeks ago.
The department has appointed about nine lifeguards at the beach to protect the lives thousands of tourists visiting the spot.
The beach is very active for about 16 to 18 hours during the summer season. At least four lifeguards keep a watch on the 2 km-stretch of the beach at a time. If an accident occurs at one end of the beach, it would take around 15 to 20 minutes for the life savers to reach the spot. The lack of life saving equipment has become a matter of major concern.
With the onset of the tourism season, increasing number of people from Alappuzha, Ernakulam, Kottayam, Pathanamthitta and Idukki district visit the beach. Besides, the number of tourists from the neighbouring states are also found to be plummeting.
A security personnel in the beach said that only three rescue tubes, four life buoys and a stretcher have been allotted to the life-saving team comprising four life guards. It is not practical to manage emergencies with these many equipment, he said.
Moreover, he said that there is no signaling equipment to alert the tourists at the time of heavy currents.
“Two lifeguards protect one km stretch of the beach at a time. We have been asking the authorities to reduce the duty point of a lifeguard to half a kilometre,” he said. District Tourism Promotion Council secretary C Pradeep said, “We had submitted a proposal to the Tourism Department to appoint eight more security personnel and eight lifeguards at the beach. We have demanded the department to allot more life saving equipment, he said.
The presence of only Malayalam notice boards is yet another cause for worry. Hence, boards in other languages should be set up in the beach to alert the tourists of the dangers, the local people said.