The Indian Express                  07.05.2013

BMC seeks police help to patrol beaches

FINDING it difficult to deal with unruly citizens on the city's beach fronts, BMC has requested the help of Mumbai Police to patrol the six beaches and prevent drowning incidents. This comes as a relief to city lifeguards who have been seeking police protection for years as they are said to face most difficulty in monitoring inebriated persons on the seaside.

"We have a four-level beach safety programme, of which the first three deal with increasing the strength of our own lifeguards and adding reinforcements by way of support from the fire brigade and Koli fishermen in the city. Our fourth and last level involves the police force. A few days ago, we wrote to the Police Commissioner and he has responded positively. They will begin patrolling soon," said additional municipal commissioner Manisha Mhaiskar.

On Sunday, three men drowned off the coast of Aksa beach. According to reports, only one lifeguard was monitoring the beach. Stall owners and fishermen were called in to aid the lifeguard in the rescue operation. "We have employed the services of local fishermen and contract lifeguards to aid the beach safety plan. We also have a flood relief team of fire brigade officers that are put on duty on public holidays and weekends," said Mhaiskar.