# Careless lifeguards # Lack of emergency aid at pool # Poorly equipped pools # Lack of safety alarm

June 25: A shortage of life guards and trained personnel, poorly equipped pools and lack of safety awareness amongst swimmers have turned Mumbai's swimming pools into death traps. Three drowning deaths in swimming pools in less than two months more than prove this.

On April 25 Priyanka Sedekar (13) died in the Dombivli Gymkhana swimming pool after a 15-minute struggle in the water. Two lifeguards and a large crowd standing on the pool side did little to save her. On May 9 Parth Harihar (5) died in the Priyadarshini Indira Gandhi swimming pool at Mulund when the lifeguard failed to notice the boy lying face down in the water. On June 20 Francis Rodrigues (24) died in the Andheri Sports Club swimming pool after his screams went unheard for over five minutes. First aid was delayed even after the youth was pulled out and he died on the way to hospital.

``Nothing has changed at the Dombivli Gymkhana swimming pool. No additional safety precautions have been taken,'' says a grief-stricken Prakash Sedeker, whose daughter Priyanka drowned in April.

The drownings do not seem to have woken up authorities either. ``Since there is no separate department to look into affairs of swimming pools, it is up to individual pool managements to take precautions,'' a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) official told Express Newsline.

Who is responsible for these deaths? Are Mumbai swimming pools unsafe? Are swimmers taking enough precautions? To find answers to all these questions and to be able to pin point the areas that need attention we carried a survey. Here are some of the factors that we found were responsible for the deaths:

Untrained personnel and shortage of lifeguards: All the reported deaths this year occurred mainly due to lack of alertness on the part of the lifeguards present at poolsides. By the time lifeguards had dived into the pool, victims had already swallowed enough water to slow down their breathing.

A general physician said: ``Once water enters the lungs, a person can die immediately. Forget the five to ten minutes' delay which happened in all the cases, even a minute can prove fatal.''

Most of the pools do not have enough lifeguards. ``Generally one guard looks after 10 swimmers at a time and they usually fail to spot drowning children,'' said a parent. ``My brother Ranjit Hinduja died last year in the Garware Club House pool at Churchgate, in the presence of a lifeguard. A case of negligence was filed but nothing happened,'' said Ravi Hinduja, a businessman.

Prakash Sedekar filed a case against pool authorities under Section 304 of the Indian Penal Code for the death of his daughter. Both manager and lifeguard of the pool were arrested for culpable homicide and later released on bail.

Senior police officials say that cases of drowning are registered as accidents or death due to negligence, with limited punishment for the accused.

Lack of emergency aid: Young Francis Rodrigues could have been saved if the ambulance that was supposed to have rushed him to a hospital had not broken down. He was later taken to the hospital in a member's car after a critical 10-minute delay.

Poorly equipped pools: Most of the city pools lack safety nets and machines to empty out pool in case of a mishap. ``This technology is very costly and our management can't afford it,'' a pool official said.

Lack of safety awareness amongst parents: Lifeguards complain that children are egged on by parents to attend swimming lessons. There is also pressure on the children to learn fast.

Lack of discipline among young swimmers: Lifeguards have urged parents to discipline frolicking children.

``These children are crazy. They take their friends on piggy-back rides in the water which can prove fatal,'' a said a lifeguard.

However, the pool drownings seem to have little impact on the youngsters and kids who flock the Andheri complex even during rainy days. It hasn't deterred parents from sending their kids to swimming pools. Admissions to swimming pools are steadily increasing. The Andheri Complex alone trains more than 200 students every month.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.