The drowning of two teenagers in a public pond in the fifth ward of Kalamasserry municipality has thrown light on the danger posed by unmonitored, easily accessible waterbodies in the district.
The pond was in an abandoned state for over two decades before it was revived by the Kalamasserry municipality last year using funds made available under a corporate social responsibility initiative.
“This is one of the three or four such large public ponds within the municipal limits and all of them pose the danger of needless loss of lives by the misplaced spirit of adventure among youngsters. The pond in question is visited daily by youngsters in batches to swim and they hardly listen to the warnings and advice of local residents,” said Mohammad Fessy, councillor of Ward 5.
Fire and rescue services department also remains concerned about the threat posed by such waterbodies. The Eloor fire station, for instance, put up warning boards and banners along the banks of eight such waterbodies and bath ghats within its limits last year.
“In some cases, we have even placed lifebuoys and rope along the banks for safety. We cannot stop people from swimming in such public waterbodies since that amounts to violation of people’s rights. The best we can do is to alert people to the dangers involved,” said P.B. Ramakrishnan, Station Officer, Eloor fire station, who on Saturday visited the pond where the tragedy took place and placed a warning board there.
There was a lack of information about the existence of dangerous waterbodies. Mr. Ramakrishnan said it called for the cooperation of people’s representatives so that Fire and Rescue Services was provided with information about waterbodies for precautionary intervention.
Binu Mitran, Ernakulam divisional warden, Kerala State Civil Defence, said civil defence volunteers with local connect helped Fire and Rescue Services in making meaningful intervention by giving them information on vulnerable waterbodies. He said the volunteers helped create awareness and provided families near such waterbodies with emergency contact numbers.
