Lifeguard Unit At Bhavani River Brings Drowning Incidents To Nil After Its Formation Two Years Ago

Time of India

5 days ago

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Coimbatore: There was a time when at least 40 drowning cases were being reported in the Bhavani river at Mettupalayam every year. In the past two years, no lives were lost in the river, except for two cases of suicide.
The credit goes to the lifeguard unit that the Coimbatore rural police set up at the river to save the lives of people, who often venture into deep waters without swimming skills and get stranded in the water body.
The lifeguard unit was set up in February 2023 after two IIT students and three women drowned in the river in Mettupalayam and Sirumugai areas in two separate incidents. Trained under the National Disaster Response Force, members of the unit were provided with lifejackets, ropes, headlights and other equipment to rescue people.
In the past two years, the team has rescued 26 people from the river. While 18 of them attempted to commit suicide by jumping into the river, cases, the remaining eight were stranded in the water without swimming skills.
According to a lifeguard, the drowning victims were mostly tourists and devotees visiting nearby temples. "The Mettupalayam and Sirumugai flock know the Bhavani river inside out. Hence, they could understand the sudden rise in water flow and know exactly when to step out of the river.
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However, tourists and devotees, unaware of the river, drown during sudden rise in the water flow."
S Athiyaman, deputy superintendent of police, Mettupalayam sub-division, said they had identified 19 drowning hotspots in the river and were patrolling such areas round the clock to prevent people from entering the river at those points. "Outsiders don't know about the drowning hotspots in the river and often try to bathe there.
Lifeguards, however, stop them. This way, the lifeguard unit has saved several thousand lives.
Before the formation of the unit, about 40 people were losing their lives in the river."
The lifeguard unit comprises a sub-inspector and five members. "Four of them patrol the 19 drowning hotspots that fall on a two-kilometre stretch of the river. The remaining two are deployed at the Vanabadrakaliamman Temple bridge. Recently, an outpost was set up at Nellithurai to rescue the people who attempt suicide and monitor the ones entering the elephant corridor," Athiyaman said.
Sub-inspector P Rajan, who heads the lifeguard unit, says they are always prepared to meet any eventuality. "We don't allow people to bathe at the drowning hotspots. We also keep people updated about the rise in water flow. We receive an alert on WhatsApp whenever water is being released from Pillur dam and a check dam at Samayapuram near Mettupalayam. Immediately, we will get people out of the river."
An activist from Mettupalayam said the lifeguard unit was working very effectively. "A few days ago, lifeguards rescued a man who jumped off the Vanabadrakaliamman Temple bridge. But the problem is these cops are often sent for bandobust duties. When they are on bandobust duty, incidents like suicides are taking place. Officers on life-saving duty should be freed from the bandobust duties," the activist said.
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