After two days of search operations, the body of one of the three brothers feared dead in Gorai creek was found on Tuesday. Mangesh Pagi’s body was found off Marve beach by the family. “We found his body floating in the sea,” said Bala Subramanium, a colleague of Mangesh’s brother Parshuram. “A few friends had hired a boat to look for the body. They spotted Mangesh’s body and pulled it in with a rope. We took the body to a hospital for autopsy,” he added.

The monsoon has barely begun but the city police are already on toes to prevent such cases in future. They are preparing for increased security at the beaches to stop people from venturing into sea.

The Gorai police, who have registered the first drowning case this monsoon, have already made arrangements for carrying life saving equipment in their patrolling vans. Police Inspector R Chaudhury of the Gorai police station said, “The local fishermen have already stopped foraying into the sea, but it is very difficult to stop people from hiring boats. We have increased patrols and posted our men at certain spots. Our wireless patrol vans will also carry ropes and tyres to use as floats in case of emergency. We don’t have permanent lifeguards but they will be posted at beaches with the onset of monsoon.”

According to Senior Police Inspector J Hargude of the Malwani police station, prevention is better than cure.

“It is very difficult to save a person while he is drowning in the rough seas during the monsoon. So our focus will be to prevent people from swimming in high seas,” said Hargude. “We have put up signs warning people and have increased patrols and bandobasts in these areas. The local fishermen have stopped fishing and only the ferries are allowed since they don’t go into deep seas. Besides this, we have deployed five lifeguards in the area,” he added.

... contd.