Costs drown ‘Baywatch’ plan for beach safety

Now,the BMC,which is yet to put in place a fool-proof safety at city’s beaches,will continue with its own beach safety plan including around 30 lifeguards and warning signage.

“Since outsourcing an agency is expensive,we will carry out the safety measures ourselves. We already have eight lifeguards each on Juhu and Aksa beach while four each on Madh and Marve,” said Dr Jairaj Thanekar,executive health officer.

When asked about watch towers and availability of boats and life jackets,Dr Thanekar said,“All that will happen later. As of now,we have put warning boards in danger prone areas,boards stating high-tide and low-tide timings and have first-aid facilities. We still have not discussed other provisions of the project.”

Newsline in its ‘Save the Beach’ campaign in 2006 had reported the sorry state of Mumbai’s beaches,detailing the thickly spread plastic waste and encroachments on some stretches and poor security measures everywhere. Following the campaign,a petition was filed in the Bombay High Court and directives were issued for beach safety.

“The High Court directive states that reasonable safety provisions have to be made at the beaches and accordingly,32 lifeguards are patrolling the six beaches. We are in talks with the Municipal Commissioner to augment the man power on the beaches. But I am not aware of the other provisions,” said Manisha Mhaiskar,Additional Municipal Commissioner,BMC.

As per the Baywatch model,a pair of lifeguards was to man every two kilometres on a beach,equipped with boats and safety jackets. To strengthen the security at beaches,the BMC had said that it will also have essential equipment such as binoculars and life-saving kit,communication system,life boats and rescue boats besides watch towers.