Maharashtra government gets deadline to ensure safety on beaches

The Bombay High Court on Friday directed Maharashtra government to make all the beaches in the state safe by July 31 by posting life guards and providing warning signals and watchtowers, while observing that many lives have been lost in the past.

These measures might help in preventing cases of drowning and saving precious lives of people, said a bench headed by Justice Abhay Oka.

The court was hearing a public interest litigation filed by Janhit Manch, an NGO, on the issue of beach safety in the wake of an incident off Murud Janjira beach near Alibaug, in which 14 students, of whom ten were girls, had drowned earlier this year.

The bench had earlier reprimanded the state government and Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) for failing to implement a Government Resolution passed in 2006 on measures to be taken to keep the beaches secure so as to avoid any untoward incident.

The judges said that during the period (from 2006 till date) several people drowned at various beaches due to lack of adequate safety measures by the authorities concerned.

The high court had opined during last hearing that Goa had deployed beach police, also known as coastal police, on their beaches and asked the Maharashtra government to also consider the same.