Beaches turn deathtraps, but does anyone care?

VISAKHAPATNAM: The dangers of the Port City's coastline surfaced yet again on Thursday as three youth went missing after venturing into the sea on Thursday. A combination of factors, including natural influences such as erosion and formation of rip currents, combined with lack of adequate safety measures along the coast are turning Vizag's beaches into a death trap.
While Thursday's incident primarily points to rough seas and caution being thrown to the winds, oceanography experts and police officials feel visitors need to keep safety as the top priority before venturing into the sea as nearly 40 deaths occur on an average each year along Vizag beaches.
"Visitors get over excited when they come to the beach and venture in for a swim. They don't know the condition of the sea and the dangers involved and fail to realise that the undercurrents are quite different from what is visible from the shore," said Three Town police station circle inspector Tirumal Rao.
Referring to the environmental aspects, head of department of meteorology and oceanography, Andhra University, KVSR Prasad said, "There are a lot changes that take place along the beach, including the formation of rip currents, which cannot be seen by the naked eye." While pointing out that rip currents can be quite dangerous, he said that another factor that poses danger to visitors is the steep drop in depth along the beach. "In some places the depth increases as sand is deposited elsewhere, making it dangerous for visitors. The best way to be safe is to stick closer to the shore," he said.
Another oceanography expert explained that unlike beaches on the west coast and other beaches on the east coast, the Vizag beach stretch is extremely rocky, sloping and deep. "The RK Beach-Vuda Park is particularly deep mainly because of erosion, whereas Rushikonda and Kailasgiri are extremely rocky and deep," he said.
According to police sources, six life guards each are deployed at RK Beach, Rushikonda and Yarada whereas the remaining stretches of the 16-km coastline from Coastal Battery to Rushikonda, including Sagarnagar, Jodugullalapalem area near Tenneti Park and Jalaripeta are not manned by life guards.
"We have received complaints from life guards that GVMC is not paying them salaries on time for the last 3-4 months and they don't even have basic facilities to keep their life jackets and safety tubes as the tower at RK Beach was destroyed during Hudhud," said a police official.
"Most of the public comes to RK Beach, which is more prone to accidents. Permanent facilities, including binoculars and stretchers should be given to the life guards so that they can carry out their duties effectively," he added.
He also pointed out that a majority of the warning boards alerting visitors to danger were damaged during Cyclone Hudhud and are yet to be replaced. "We need to put up danger boards with statistics of deaths at the beach so that people are more careful while venturing into the sea."
Referring to drowning cases, a GVMC official said, "We are doing everything needed to control drowning deaths near RK Beach area as the most number of visitors come there. Recently, we were able to save a few people due to the presence of lifeguards."
However, on the issue of placing warning boards, he said, "We will be taking measures soon to place the danger signboards, which were damaged during Cyclone Hudhud." At the same time, he said, "Budget constraints are also there due to which we can't deploy more life guards all along the beach."