Daily Times

KARACHI: Several residents of the coastal city have protested that the ban on swimming on beaches during summer months is useless, since the administrations lacks resources as well as the will to enforce it.

They expressed these views as two more youngsters lost their lives while swimming at Sandspit over the Eid break. The bodies of boys who drowned on the second day of Eid at the Sandspit beach, were recovered on Monday.

According to the details, 18-year-old Faraz and 22-year-old Osama drowned while taking a bath. They two boys along with seven of their friends had gone to the beach for a picnic on Sunday.

According to the relatives of the two boys, no lifeguard was present on the shore when the mishap occurred.

The lifeguard said that the boys should have avoided taking a bath at the beach as it had been banned by the authorities.

The search was stopped on Sunday evening due to darkness. The bodies were found early Monday morning when Edhi volunteers resumed the rescue operation.

Bodies of both the boys were recovered by the rescue officials.

In a tragic incident that occurred last year in September, 12 members of the same extended family drowned in the Arabian Sea at Karachi’s Hawkes Bay Beach while saving each other from drowning.

The incident occurred when an extended family from Nazimabad went to the Hawkes Bay for a family picnic.

According to the details, some of the family members had been swimming close to the shore when they slid into deeper water. Rest of the family members were swept in by the high tide when they drowned into the high tide in the sea.

The lifeguards recovered 12 bodies from the sea. Among the victims were two women.

Shoaib Shibli, a member of the bereaved family and an eyewitness to the incident said that no lifeguard was present and no help was available to rescue his family members.

In April 2014, at least 46 picnickers drowned at different beaches off the Arabian Sea during the Eid Holidays.

During the monsoon season spanning over June, July and August the Arabian Sea turns rough and a greater number of unsuspecting citizens drown in the sea.

The government has banned swimming at both Hawkesbay and Sandspit beaches during the monsoon months but due to the shortage of lifeguards and relevant personnel, the ban remains loosely enforced.

Two men from Karachi, Chitral drown in Keenjhar Lake:

Two other incidents of drowning were reported in Sindh this Sunday. Chitral resident Raza drowned in the Keenjhar Lake on Sunday morning. In a similar incident which also occurred on the second day of Eid, Bilawal a Karachi resident drowned in the KD canal.

Published in Daily Times, June 19^th 2018.