Alcohol and food is a deadly combination when one heads out to sea. Compounding the situation is the unfamiliarity with
the sea, tiredness and low fitness levels. In a span of five years Drishti Lifeguards, entrusted with saving lives along Goa’s 105 km coastline, saw a total of 31 drowning deaths within their jurisdiction of which 18 (58 per cent) were alcohol related drownings. But Drishti officials don’t blame alcohol alone for the drowning deaths. They attribute it instead to a series of incidents. Among the domestic tourists it is the yuppie Indian crowd in the age group of 18-25 years, many working in the IT field in air-conditioned environments who haven’t been in sun for months on end and whose fitness levels are at a low,
who find themselves in trouble. Coming from the hinterland, they have also never seen the sea and never experienced good food and cheap alcohol in such close proximity to the beach.
They eat and drink to their heart’s content, get tired, suffer sunstroke, have no beach familiarization and venture into the water.
“The moment you have salt water entering your mouth, you puke. But if you’ve eaten a heavy meal the food chokes your windpipe and cuts off your oxygen supply. If you’ve consumed alcohol then you’ve lost control,” one Drishti official said.
Among the foreigners it is the Russians who succumb to the sea. Mostly obese and unfit, this group also tends to eat and drink without limits. Lifeguards find language a problem too when communicating with this group.
“It’s wrong to say that tourists visiting Goa drink and die on its beaches. Alcohol is only a contributory
factor. Nobody drowns if they swim
between the red flags,” V K Kanwar
CEO Drishti says.
Women don’t feature among the
drowning deaths as many of them
don’t venture into the water due to
lack of changing rooms on beaches.
The lifeguards are often at the receiving
end of abuses from tourists
who think they are invincible. The
company has organised etiquette and
crowd management workshops for
its lifeguards to equip them with
skills to deal with various types of
tourists.
Drishti has 600 lifeguards manning
41 beaches and two fresh water
bodies Dudhsagar and Mayem Lake.
The lifeguards’ jurisdiction is from
sunrise to sunset.
Starting next month, Drishti is also
reintroducing beach safety patrolling
where staff will be monitoring the
beach from sunset to 12 midnight to
prevent any untoward incidents on
the coast. These are not equipped to
do rescues but will assist or call for
help in case of any distress.
