Youth drowns at Digha beach

Police said that Rabindranath Kundu, a resident of North 24 Parganas, was with his friend on the beach when he drowned while he was trying to take a bath in the sea. Both of them were reportedly drunk when the incident occured. Police arrested Kundu’s friend.

The incident comes in the wake of death of three youth at Mandarmani beach last week. The youth had gone into the sea and then went missing. Their bodies were also later recovered. The state government has decided to install CCTV cameras at the beaches of Digha, Mandarmani and Tajpur. Surveillance and security checks have also been tightened.

“Possibly, 49-50 people died in last three years on the three beaches. It may be an approximate number, but the exact count will not differ much. There are 17 people who died in Mandarmani beach. 

Car accidents took at least lives in Mandarmani,” said a source from East Midnapore district administration.

Police have left no stone unturned to ensure that security at the beaches is maintained properly. Revellers are alerted about the ‘dos and don’ts’ at the beach. Police personnel are even seen checking the beachgoers for level of alcohol to check whether they are drunk. Old Digha, New Digha, and Mandarmani host a large number of tourists almost every month.

In the recent incident at Mandarmani beach, in spite of repeated alerts by the district administration, a tourist team from Kolkata had gone to the sea. They were inebriated and unruly and did not pay heed to the alerts and drowned while going for a swim. 

In another incident, three Kolkata boys, two of whom were studying in the UK, were killed in an accident after they collided with another car.

The location of the accident, as informed by the police before the district administration, was the flat stretch of beach in Mandarmani.

Yet another accident occurred when a youth was killed while attempting para-gliding at the beach in 2015. 

Tarun Ghosh was on a holiday at Mandarmani with his family when the unfortunate incident occurred. Ghosh, an adventure enthusiast, in an attempt to make his journey memorable, enrolled his name for para-gliding with an adventure sports company.

As soon as the parachute went into the air, the towing car came too close to an electric pillar due to the heavy tides. The parachute further went off track due to heavy rains and wind and got stuck in the pillar. However, the towing car did not stop and the pillar was pulled off the ground. Ghosh collided with the pillar and died.

The paragliding incident revealed the security scenario of beaches in the state. The state government, without wasting any time took various security measures.

Ill-advised games at the beach, including para-gliding, have been banned. Additionally, the beach authorities have also banned entry of cars into the beach.