Team Herald
MARGAO: A fresh spate of child drownings in hotel swimming pools across Goa has reignited alarm over the persistent failure to implement long-standing safety measures. This marks the third such wave within a decade, with similar incidents reported around eight years ago.
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Former Chairperson of the Goa State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (GSCPCR), Peter Borges, criticised authorities and hospitality establishments for their “deliberate inaction,” despite safety directives issued in 2023. “No lifeguard. No safeguards. No action from the authorities. This isn’t a tragic exception—it’s a predictable outcome,” he said.
The GSCPCR’s 2023 guidelines required hotels, resorts, and guesthouses to employ trained lifeguards, install childproof barriers, display warning signage, and conduct regular safety audits. Establishments were also advised to provide approved flotation devices for children under seven and be held accountable for negligence if pool safety standards were unmet.
Borges stressed that hospitality providers have a duty of “reasonable care” to ensure guest safety, particularly for children, by maintaining pool areas in a safe condition and warning of potential hazards.
The Commission also urged the Tourism Department to enforce the presence of lifeguards during pool operation hours, prohibiting access outside those times. These recommendations followed what the GSCPCR called “very tragic” but preventable deaths.
Separately, on Thursday, the Water Resources Department issued a public warning against bathing in irrigation canals or using their inspection paths as roads, citing serious drowning risks.
Child safety advocates warn that without strict enforcement, each neglected directives risks becoming, as Borges put it, “a death foretold.”
