Marve beach is known for its dangerous waters and swirling undercurrents, and the authorities have put up numerous boards there asking people not to swim.

Locals informed there was no BMC life-guard present on the beach when strong undercurrents snuffed the life out of Santosh Gangaram Valmiki (19) and Zahid Hussain Asif Poonawala (19).

But doubts also persist on whether a single life-guard would have been of any help. Over 3,000 people had converged at Marve beach for immersion of Durga idols, and the scene was chaotic, PSI Arvind Bhosale of Malwani police station informed.

``Devotees had begun pouring in by 4 pm. If an idol was small, we allowed two or three persons to enter the water, and if it was big, we let in four or five,'' he said, adding, ``Weconstantly issued warnings over a loud-speaker to non-swimmers, asking them not to enter the sea because there are natural dips and hollow spaces near the shoreline." But, according to him, many didn't heed the warning.

Malwani police said two more youngsters, pulled in by the turbulent waters along with Valmiki and Poonawala, were rescued by locals with the help of fishing nets. But Valmiki and Poonawala couldn't be saved in time, and after their bodies were brought out at 6:15 pm, they were taken to INS Hamla hospital nearby. They were later sent to Cooper Hospital for a post-mortem, which revealed asphyxiation to be the cause of death.

Despite the drowning incident, immersions on the beach continued till 12.30 am with a heightened police vigil.

Immersions simultaneously took place at Aksa beach, notorious for the number of victims it has claimed, but no untoward incident was reported. The BMC's life-guard on the beach, R C Patil, said he was assisted by two more life-guards on Thursday, and while alife-guard had been sent to Dana-Pani beyond Aksa, nobody was despatched to Marve. After the last major drowning incident at Aksa on August 16, BMC had decided to appoint 10 to 12 local boys to assist the life-guard. But the decision hasn't been implemented. The life-guard at Aksa doesn't have a life jacket, rope or observation post. On September 28, he brought out a 26-year-old Malwani youth's body from Dana-Pani, and two weeks ago, a lady's body was found floating there, he said.

Asked why immersion of idols was allowed to take place at Marve beach, when boards have been put up warning people not to swim, Malwani police said it was the only beach for Marve residents, and other beaches were quite far. In any case, the warning board at Marve is written in small letters and can hardly be read at a glance.