Lifeguards rescue drowning youth

MANGALORE: Ansar, 21, a resident of Mallur Badriyanagar post, Neerumarga has lifeguards of Panambur Beach Tourism Development Project (PBTDP) to thank for an extended lease of life.
Part of a group of revellers who had come to Panambur beach, Ansar consistently ignored warnings of lifeguards while frolicking in the water and was sucked away by a rip current even before he could react.
Lifeguards who spotted Ansar flailing in the sea immediately dived in after him and brought him ashore. "Ansar is fine," said Yathish Bykampady, CEO of PBTDP.
Ansar was part of a group that had come from Neermarga area on the outskirts of the city.
The group was not paying heed to warnings from the lifeguards about rip currents in the area and Ansar almost paid for it with his life but for their timely intervention, Yathish said.
The lifeguards obtained a statement from Ansar and informed the Panambur police about the incident. Yathish said such incidents are now commonplace.
"On many occasions, people, especially youth whom we have saved from drowning at the beach have gone back home and claimed they have never gone to the beach," he said.
They claimed on the morning of July 14, lifeguards had rescued Shwetha, a girl from Bangalore, from drowning.
They were back in action later in the afternoon, this time saving Sai Tej, a teenager from Whitefield in Bangalore. There has been no case of drowning death at Panambur beach since October 2009, ever since the district administration handed over maintenance of the beach to PBTDP under a public-private partnership.