Himachal takes steps to curb deaths due to drowning

Shimla, Sep 9 (PTI) With Himachal Pradesh reporting over 500 deaths due to drowning every year, authorities have identified 26 'hostspots' where maximum incidents occur for increased security and surveillance to prevent such fatalities.

The state disaster response force, police and home guards would be trained to reduce drowning deaths, state Director General of Police Atul Verma told reporters on Monday Home Guards will be engaged for surveillance and monitoring, prevention through engagement, emergency response, equipment handling and maintenance and coordination and reporting and would be equipped with life jackets, rescue ropes, throw bags, binoculars and megaphones, the DGP added.

He said research between 2006 and 2010 revealed that about 514 people died due to drowning every year and 75 per cent of deaths were accidental, 16 per cent were suicides and nine per cent were due to other reasons.

The maximum number of drowning deaths were reported from Kangra and Mandi districts. He said 34 per cent of deaths occurred in the summer season and 31 per cent in monsoon.

To prevent the loss of precious lives due to drowning, an exercise was conducted by the SDRF, where data regarding deaths due to drowning was collected from each district and mapped to identify major hotspots in the state, State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) Superintendent of Police  Arjit Sen Thakur.

He said 26 high-risk areas where a large number of drowning deaths took place have been identified so far.

Himachal Pradesh is dotted with several water bodies, including lakes, rivers, streams, and nallahs. Major rivers like the Ravi, Beas, Sutlej, Chenab, Parbati, and Yamuna, with their tributaries, flow rapidly down the hilly terrain towards the northern plains.

These rivers support big and small hydropower projects, resulting in large dam reservoirs, such as Gobindsagar, Pandoh, Pong, and Chamera. Alongside, famous lakes like Renukaji, Chandratal, Puskar, and Rewalsar have religious significance and host annual fairs.

A standard operating procedure has been prepared to prevent drowning incidents and respond to such emergencies, he said adding that the rescue operations would be undertaken by trained people like divers, SDRF and police. PTI BPL RT RT