Pradip Senapati, a Bhubaneswar-based businessman, used to be a frequent visitor to the nearby temple town of Puri, a famous tourist destination in eastern India which attracts thousands of visitors from across the globe everyday.
Apart from the temple of Lord Jagannath, an important Hindu shrine, what used to attract the Senapati family to the small coastal town was its beach. The family, particularly the young businessman’s two children, immensely enjoyed a sea bath.
However, these days Senapati thinks twice before venturing into the beach along with his children. The reason -- frequent drowning of tourists on the popular beach. In fact, the beautiful beach has turned into a virtual death trap for visitors.
More than 80 people have lost their lives, a majority of them students, since 2008. Last year, 25 drowned and in this calendar year, 24 have met watery grave. Observers fear that the death toll this year may surpass the last year’s figure as the tourist season has just taken off.
The latest incident of drowning was on November 27 when two Bhubaneswar-based young engineers working for a private telecom firm were swept away by the killer waves while enjoying the sea bath. Hemant Choudhury and Sonu Gupta, originally from Maharashtra and neighbouring Chhattisgarh respectively, along with ten of their colleagues were taking bath on the beach after arriving in Puri to spend the weekend.
Not lucky
Suddenly a huge wave came and swept four of them away. “Nolias” (local fishermen) and lifeguards present at the spot managed to save two of them. But Hemant and Sonu were not that lucky. Their bodies were found the next day at a different spot on the beach.
Experts believe that the popular beach has turned into a watery graveyard for tourists for various reasons. And one among them is increase in the roughness of the sea near the Odisha coastline in the last few years.
In fact, Odisha is one of the coastal states in the country where sea erosion has become a major problem. In Puri, rough sea waters have already eaten away a part of the marine drive. They have also engulfed a colony of “ nolias.”
The second and perhaps the most important factor behind the sudden increase in the drowning incidents is the carelessness on part of the tourists while stepping into the sea. While enjoying their bath, they forget certain basic principles like not venturing into deep waters.
On November 27, the lifeguards present on the spot had reportedly warned the group about the danger of the rough sea in that particular portion of the five-km long beach. However, it had little impact on them. “They had been warned about the danger but still the mishap took place,” said Puri city Deputy Superintendent of Police M Tripathy.
There are also instances of tourists entering into the sea for bathing purpose in a drunken state. “We have often witnessed engineering students from Bhubaneswar taking bath on the beach after consuming liquor, ” said another police official.
There are more than 25 engineering colleges and other techno schools in and around Bhubaneswar. And students from these institutes regularly visit Puri on weekends to have fun.
Govt wakes up
Realising the gravity of the situation, the Odisha Government has finally woken up from its slumber and has decided to take a few concrete steps to minimise the drowning incidents. A high-level official meeting was held here recently under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Bijoy Patnaik where it was decided that the Puri district administration would soon be demarcating the “bath and no bath” zones on the beach and would ensure that no tourist steps into the no bath zone.
The unsafe are of the beach would have barbed barricades. A day after the November 27 incident, State Home Secretary U N Behera had also convened a high-level meeting in Puri where it was decided that more lifeguards would be appointed and given adequate training to handle the situation. There are about 80 lifeguards deployed on the beach now which may go up to 300.
Besides, round-the-clock manning of the beach will be ensured from the watch towers already erected on the beach. Observers are of the view that whatever safety measures the government is planning should be implemented as early as possible before the beach losses its charm and popularity. The Puri sea beach is considered one of the best in the country. Interestingly, despite all these drowning incidents and dangerous situation, thousands of tourists still visit the beach and take their sea bath everyday. This only demonstrates the popularity of the beach.