Taking lesson from two recent incidents wherein an IITian Rajesh Kumar, a native of Bihar, and Aabida Manzoor, a daughter of Uttar Pradesh Cabinet Minister Shahid Manzoor, were swept away in Ganga in Rishikesh, Dehradun police have formed a task force, consisting of local police, Jal Police and PAC jawans to tackle such issues in time.
The task force would monitor the tourists' movements and would try to stop them from moving into the risk area of the river.
Muni-ki-Rati police station in-charge Rajendra Singh said that signboards warning people from getting into the river at the risk areas have been installed at various places.
lakshman Jhula police station in-charge Amarjeet Singh said with large number of tourists from across the country coming here to take dip in Ganga daily, the area to be monitored is large. "We would do everything possible for us to dissuade them from getting into the stretches of the river deemed dangerous, given the strong currents. At the same time, the signboards installed at various places would serve the purpose of warning them against the danger lurking in the river," he added.
However, police's experiences bear witness to the fact that some of the tourists tend to ignore the warning inscribed on the signboards.
The number of cases involving persons meeting watery graves in Ganga is alarmingly on the rise over the past few years. Hence, the decision to constitute the task force, said a senior police official.
Statistics say that 17 persons were swept away in the gushing Ganga under Rishikesh police station in 2014 and the figure is seven in 2015 so far. Seven persons were swept away in Ganga under Muni-ki- Rati police station in 2014 while four met watery graves in 2015. Seven persons were swept away in the river under lakshman Jhula police station in 2014 while the figure is five so far in 2015, it is learnt.