MARGAO: With people thronging to the beaches of Goa during the festive season, Drishti’s lifeguardsmade 81 rescues in 60 separate incidents over the last two weeks in the coastal areas.
The lifeguards have witnessed an increase in incidents of water sports enthusiasts who indulge in open sea kayaking. These have to be often rescued when their kayak topples over due to the choppy sea conditions. In eight separate incidents in Palolem, Drishti’s lifesavers rescued 12 individuals.
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From January 1, lifesavers rescued 35 persons in water-related incidents; of these four required medical interventions. Of these 35 were domestic tourists while four were local inhabitants.
The Calangute-Sinquerim coastline, Ashvem, Kerim in north Goa, and Palolem in south Goa have witnessed the most number of rescues from Dec 20 till date.
On Dec 31, January 1 and 3, Drishti’s lifeguards had to conduct search and rescues of children between one and five years who went missing on the beach. The children were located and reunited with the parents in all three days.
On Monday, Goa witnessed a triple rescue at Calangute, double rescue at Candolim and Vagator, and a single rescue at Cavelossim beach.
A group of 17 were swimming at Calangute sea where a trio aged 16, 17, and 20 drifted into the sea and were being swept away by the strong current. The Drishti lifesavers, Leslie Rodrigues, Siddesh Bhosle, Sangam Asolkar and Vinod Gaonkar alerted each other and rescued the three individuals. The youngsters were brought back safely to the shore and were found to be stable after a check-up.
Meanwhile, two children below 12 years were rescued at Vagator from the rocky shore while two males from Madhya Pradesh aged 38 and 42 years were rescued.
