Calangute (Goa): The incidents of drowning continue to haunt in the popular Calangute coastal stretch with the latest case being that of two Gujarati students losing their lives. Anuja Susan Paul (aged 23 years) and Guram Chenchu Sai (aged 25 years), students of Mudra Institute of Communication, Ahmedabad drowned at Candolim beach after being pulled by strong underwater currents early this morning.
Calangute police informed that bodies of Paul, a native of Chennai and Sai, from Andhra Pradesh were washed ashore 30 minutes and six hours respectively after the incident. The duo was among a group of 47 students from the Institute on a study tour to Goa.
Late on Sunday night, Nainital tourist Himanshu Kumar (22) had drowned at Calangute beach. He was on a vacation to Goa along with two other friends. The IT professional’s body was initially missing and was found the following day when it was washed ashore. Prior to this incident, a Himachal Pradesh native Ashtray Duttam (27) drowned at Candolim beach. The case is similar to the latest drowning incident, wherein the victim entered the waters during the early morning hours at around 3:30am on Sunday.
The three incidents has shocked the administration even as Drishti Lifesaving Services, that has deployed its lifeguards across the beaches of Goa, had warned the visitors not to enter the waters during bad weather and rough sea.
On Wednesday, Tourism Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar decided to approach Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar to enact a law to penalize visitors venturing into the waters in an inebriated condition and during the late. In a meeting with stakeholders ahead of the tourist season, he said that he would seriously take up the issue with the CM to take strong action through enactment of a law and serve as a deterrent against those venturing into the sea for swimming in an intoxicated condition.
