February 1 tragedy sees little change at Murud, safety still a concern

The boards are all in English, none in Marathi or Hindi. There are local boys from fishermen community who have been trained as lifeguards, but they do not carry the rescue equipment, which they have been given.

Also, there is no watch tower or security room that was promised by the local administration after the tragedy. One can still see tourists swimming in water, not far from where the students had drowned. A primary conclusion that can be drawn after a close look — and articulated by the people, local residents have learnt a lesson from the incident but the government agencies refused to do so.

The Indian Express had reported after the incident that the teachers were not present with the students at the time of the incident. An FIR was registered against the four members of the administration and 14 teachers in April.

Watch Video: What’s making news

“The FIR has been registered. Five local boys from the fishermen community have been trained, by an organisation in Pune. They have also been given rescue equipment. However, has this system received any consistent support from the government in the form of infrastructure and finance, remains a question,” says Tukaram Koli, a regular visitor to the beach.

Bhushan Deshpande, one of the directors of the Astitva Lifesaving, a Pune-based training organisation, which has trained the boys in Murud, says, “They have been trained in reading the sea condition to using safety equipment and giving CPR. They have been given surf boards and binoculars. But I have to say this has not received the kind of support that it should have got from the local administration.

“When the Express team visited the beach on July 30, some tourists were seen entering the waters but far from the spot where incident took place. No lifeguards were seen. But in the evening, some people were seen swimming close to the spot where the incident took place and the boys trained as lifeguards were seen playing cricket.

Defending the local administration, Murud Janjira tehsildar Umesh Patil said, “We have conducted awareness sessions among local businessmen, shop owners and fishermen. Work on watch tower will be done soon.”