* THE TIMES OF , BENGALURU 4 TIMES CITY MONDAY, JUNE 8, 2015

MY OPINION

Baywatchers save 99 lives in

DEATH ANNIVERSARY 4th Death Anniversary DEATH VAIKUNTA 6 years at beach ANNOUNCEMENTS SAMARADHANA K. SREEDHARAN M.A.LLB [email protected] THE BEACHSIDE STORY 0 99 26.09.1933-08.06.2011 Victims of Mangaluru: The Panambur Bea- lives 'Our Hearts are filled ch Tourism Development Project drowning saved with fond memories we (PBTDP), a first-of-its-kind initia- (past year) (from 2008) remember you every tive in the country to develop and 750m minute with silent tears' operate a beach privately, has made 12 Mrs. Sreedharan & of beach on one of the safest Family Members. patrolled weekends along the west coast, with better pa- trolling and trained lifeguards. Supervisors have revenue- The Panambur project life- `8,000 sharing model with stalls guards have saved 99 lives since and parking fee, apart salary 2008, the latest being just a couple from regular salary paid to of days ago, of a Bengaluru youth. beginner Lifebuoys, life-saving After PBTDP took over, Panambur surfboards, life kit, harness emerged as the most popular beach used in rescue missions in coastal , according to the department of tourism. ped after the introduction of by lifeguards who use whistles to The beach, located 1km off CCTVs and regular patrolling. warn the offenders to use dustbins. NH66 near New Port, re- CCTV cameras installed by police It is disconcerting to see the atti- ceives an average tourist footfall of at the parking lot and at the beach tude of people who display their 20,000 during weekends and about have not been working for some best civic sense when they go 5,000 during weekdays — the high- time. If they are maintained, lifting abroad, but leave it behind when est for any of the 41 beaches in the valuables from cars can be prevent- they land here,” Baikampady said. three coastal districts. In the past ed to a great extent.” “This problem can be tackled if two years, monsoon footfall has al- The other major problem is the powers are given to us to fine viola- so been on the rise. With the crowds public, especially youth, who vio- tors through marshals, not only come along challenges too. late instructions on jumping into here but all over the city. But at the PBTDP CEO Yatish Baikampa- the sea at a particular spot, or when same time, there has to be a rehabil- dy, who quit his banking career to the sea is rough. itation plan as incomes will dwin- work full-time in this initiative “If we don’t allow them to get in- dle after some time,’’ he added. said: “The challenge with more to the sea in the main area, they try On leaving his bank job, Baikam- footfalls is safety and cleanliness. in a free area. On a busy weekend, pady says: “Though initially it was More people means more garbage. we have to manage a crowd of 20,000 saving of lives that brought me to the We had thefts too. A gang operated in a 750m area with 12 lifeguards. beach, later I thought of approach- during the season, which is a com- During the fishing season, the ing the issue holistically, which gave mon thing in all popular destina- Coastal Security Force deploys two birth to the project. But it needed my tions – they would pick car locks personnel to help us,” he added. full-time involvement. This was also and remove valuables. Earlier, “We tackle the cleanliness problem necessary to build confidence there was bike lifting, which stop- manually. Litterbugs are warned among my boys.”