MUMBAI, November 4: Among the band of revellers at the Aksa beach this afternoon, there lay an unusual sight. Clad in spotless white, a frantic Jyotiben Trivedi ran about the beach, attempting to stop the revellers from venturing into the deceptive blue waters which have already claimed 14 lives in the last 10 months. Her son was one of them.So, on hearing about the tragic deaths on Sunday evening, the hapless mother tried to single-handedly stop picnickers from stepping into the sea today. No one paid heed to it, though. Just as the warning notices of the police and BMC have so far gone unnoticed on the beach.She told Express Newsline that the beach should be immediately banned for good - even as young boys and girls, and several families continued to happily frolic in the water.``Aksa snuffed the life out of my only son Vipul Trivedi on July 6 this year,'' she said in a choked voice. ``Vipul had simply told us that he is going out with some of his friends; we didn't even know that he was heading for the last swim of his life at Aksa. he was only 21.''The beach is devoid of lights and life guards dashing to the rescue of drowning picnickers a la Baywatch. ``Nothing has changed at Aksa since my son's death and I'm afraid more drownings will occur if we don't act now,'' she said. ``I know Vipul is never going to come back, but the callous BMC can at least employ lifeguards for public safety,'' said Jyotiben pointing at a rusty, abandoned life guard post on the beach.She has no qualms admitting that Vipul and his friends may have also been drunk while swimming in the deadly waters. Palm liquor (tadi) is openly sold here in empty beer bottles and is a rage amongst the youth, especially since it only costs Rs 8 a bottle.While the registered annual death toll has been in single figures in the last three years (see table), this year the toll surprisingly shot up to 14, and the victims are mainly youths in their early 20s.Jyotiben, is not alone in her plea; almost all the friends and relatives of the four boys who died this Sunday evening have also strongly urged closure of the beach.A pall of gloom has descended upon Bhagwati Yadav chawl in MIDC Industrial Estate, homes of Benet Vaz, Ivan Vaz, Ramprakash Rajbhar and Kishore Shanbhag.``Ban the beach, fence the high tide area and tell the public how deceptive the waters at Aksa can be, as we have realised a little too late,'' said a shaken Meenakshi Manik, an eyewitness to the tragic drownings on Sunday. Meenakshi was among the three families from the chawl that had gone for the picnic that fateful Sunday. The tragedy occurred at about 6.30 pm when Ramprakash and Kishore went to fetch the cricket ball in the sea.Both boys were sucked into the sea by a big wave and Ivan, who was nearby tried to rescue them. Death was quick and sudden since all four were non-swimmers. Bennet, the last to plunge into the sea to help his struggling friends, failed fatally. ``We are going to fetch the four bodies from Cooper Hospital today, we don't want other families to suffer the way we have at the hands of a cruel sea,'' said 17-year-old Thereza Vaz, sister of the Vaz brothers.The police have appealed to the public through a notice to avoid the beach altogether. ``We are helpless as we can't make it into a law, it's just like warning people to be careful while crossing the road,'' a policeman said.
