Shimla police introduces river guard system to prevent drowning incidents

Shimla police on Thursday introduced a River Guard System in this Himachal Pradesh district to prevent frequent drowning incidents, especially during the ongoing monsoon season.

As per the police data about 105 persons, including 21 women and nine children, have drowned in the district since 2018. Of these, 17 persons were reported dead this year.

The maximum number of incidents, 22, were reported from Chirgaon in the Rohru subdivision followed by 19 each in Rampur, 13 in Kumarsain, nine in Theog, five each in Jhakri and Jubbal and four each in Sunni and Dhalli areas of the capital district.

A majority of those who drowned were young. Such deaths bring a lot of pain to the families of the deceased and a series of operations are required to rescue the drowned or recover their bodies from water, police said.

These incidents increase during the monsoon season as rivers are in spate and, therefore, we have introduced the river guard system in the district to save precious lives, Shimla Superintendent of Police (SP) Sanjeev Kumar Gandhi told the PTI.

"Police constables and homeguards along with motorcycles and mobile parties are being deployed on vulnerable points prone to drowning and all the SHOs have been directed to hold meetings with the local people to spread awareness," he said, adding that Panchayats and NGOs would also be roped in.

Drowning-prone stretches in rivers, rivulets and drains have been identified and the process of installing big and clear signages, indicating danger along the roadside and dangerous rivers beds with a history of people getting drowned is going on, he added.

The state revenue and disaster management authorities have also advised the residents and tourists to avoid venturing along the banks of the water bodies.

Asking the people to take caution, Principal Secretary (Revenue) Onkar Chand Sharma on Tuesday quoted the tragic incident of June 2014 when about 24 engineering students from Hyderabad who were taking photographs drowned in Beas River near Thalot village in Mandi district.