If you are going to take a dip in the Ganga, do it at ghats meant for the purpose. Remember that ignoring the suggestion may land you in deep water, literally and figuratively.
To avoid risk to life, precautions are a must, according to officials monitoring search operations on Saturday to locate bodies of four youths drowned a day before.
“The four students drowned in deep water. A medium sized board carrying a warning for not taking bath at that spot is on display. But it has usually been noticed that people ignore the warning,” said Superintendent of Police Janmejay Prabhakar Khanduri. He added that it was imperative for people to follow instructions by rafting agencies.
Asked whether the water police team was deployed at the spot where the incident took place, Khanduri said personnel were on duty at the water police outpost a little distance from the spot.
He pointed out that it was not possible for the water police to be at every spot and emphasised that they reached the drowning site immediately after they got intimation.
According to Khanduri, the water police team on duty in Haridwar for the fair was called back for search operations. On Saturday, a team of around 12, two divers and 10 swimmers, was pressed into service from early morning. All efforts, however, were futile.
Superintendent of Police (Rural Area) Mamta Vohra, who monitored the search since morning, said it would continue on Sunday as well. A team of 40 personnel — 15 from the National Disaster Response Force, two divers and 23 swimmers — would search for the bodies on a stretch between Neembeach and Barrage.
Pankaj Yadav, Vishal Bhatia, Sapru and Prashant drowned on Friday in Munikireti area near Neembeach. One was washed away by the current while the three others died trying to save him. The four were pursuing their Bachelors of Technology at Kurukshetra Engineering University & Technology, Haryana. Their kin have reached Rishikesh.