CHENNAI: Its status as popular spots for both city dwellers and outsiders notwithstanding, Chennai’s beaches are distinct for its total lack of safety and absence of sufficient rescue personnel in case of an emergency. A series of incidents on Sunday, where three college students drowned at the Elliot’s Beach and two others at Ennore and Marina beaches, only serve to highlight this.
According to National Crime Records Bureau statistics for 2013, Chennai reported the maximum number of drowning cases (265), among 53 major cities in the country.
Of these, 258 resulted in deaths. This year alone, Marina has seen four die to the giant waves.
Experts say the tricky gradient of the ocean floor of Chennai beaches is what that misleads people, a point which fishermen concurred to as well. “Up to about five metres, the gradient is less than five feet. But in the next five metres, the depth goes to a further five to ten feet, and this is where people miscalculate,” said Tarun Murugesh, lifeguard trainer with the Rashtriya Life Saving Society, the Indian arm of UK-based Royal Life Saving Society.
“People think that the sea bed is not much deeper than what it is at five metres from the shore. In the process they walk into a trap,” said J Kosu Mani of Tamil Nadu Fisherfolks Front.
Watching out for rip currents will save a precious life, Murugesh said. “These are the waves that return to the sea at a much greater speed than it hits the shore. It is identifiable by its frothy nature,’ he added.
ADGP Coastal Security Group, C Sylendra Babu IPS said that beyond the initial five minutes, rescuing a person who has been washed away is difficult.
“The victim is hit on the face by strong waves. Besides, seawater and sand enters the victim’s lungs. Once sand starts filling up the lungs, then there is very little chance of survival,” he said. Babu has supervised the training of 21 marine constables, who are deployed to guard the city’s beaches and help people in distress on special occasions like Kaanum Pongal. “But, larger numbers are necessary to cover the coast of Chennai. Presently, the 21 rescue personnel are sent across the State to offer protection on special occasions like Pongal or Velankanni Church celebrations for instance,” he added.
Training fishermen to be life guards can help. While Babu stated that 500 people, including fisherfolks, are currently given training to act as lifeguards, Kosu Mani opined that fisherfolks are not considered as optional rescue personnel.
Sylendra Babu revealed that the first of marine police stations near MGR memorial is nearing completion and it will help surveillance better. “We will have more rescue swimmers once the station is operational,” he said. Meanwhile, the bodies of two of the first year engineering students, who were drowned in the Besant Nagar beach, were washed ashore.