PANAJI:
Three male tourists from Karnataka, ages between 21 and 24 were rescued from rough waters on the popular Calangute beach on 28th June 2017 at approximately 14:10 hours.
On duty lifeguard Sarvesh Veluskar instructed the tourists to avoid venturing into the waters as the sea conditions were not favourable for swimming. The tourists paid a deaf ear to the lifeguard’s advice and were soon caught in a strong oncoming wave where they were dragged deeper into the sea.
On witnessing the incident lifeguard Sarvesh Veluskar immediately rushed to the spot after relaying a distress signal over the radio. In the mean while lifeguards Vithal Chorlekar and Vinod Salelkar also rushed to the spot to assist in the rescue of the trio. All three victims were safely secured and brought back to the shore. The vitals of the three victims were checked and since all was found to be normal the victims were released immediately.
Drishti Lifesaving recently issued a monsoon advisory cautioning visitors not to venture into the sea during the monsoon months extending from June till the end of September. Red flags have been posted across all beaches under Drishti’s surveillance indicating that these are strictly non-swim zones.
Even though the lifeguards are monitoring the weather conditions on a daily basis and the team is trained to carry out rescues even in rough weather, wading into the waters is not advisable because the weather and sea conditions are not ideal for swimming.
Through the month of June, a total of 14 rescue incidents were recorded and reported which lead to 14 individuals being rescued. Of 14 individuals rescued all were Indian nationals, both domestic tourists and locals.
