Saving lives: To keep swimmers at bay, rescue centre opens along river Indus

The additional DC Sukkur says the project is funded by the district govt.

SUKKUR: A lot of people have underestimated the power of the mighty River Indus and despite a ban on swimming, they took the risk and some were even washed away by the strong river currents. In a bid to keep a check on such activities, Sukkur Rescue Center 786 has been established which has also secured the livelihood of private divers.

The rescue centre is set up at Lab-e-Mehran on the right bank of river Indus.

There had been repeated reports about people drowning in the river Indus as there was no official body to tackle the issue. Families on their own would hire private divers to retrieve bodies of their beloved, said the additional deputy commissioner Sukkur, Suhail Baloch, while talking to The Express Tribune. “In April, two children lost their lives after a boat overturned in the upstream of the river.”

Keeping in view the long-standing demand of the residents of Sukkur, the deputy commissioner Sukkur Muzamil Hussain Halepoto initiated this project, said Baloch.  Twelve divers, two motorboat drivers and one watchman have been hired at the centre to keep the swimmers at bay, rescue drowning persons and find bodies. The project was funded by the district government as the response from the provincial government departments was quite disappointing, he added.

Pakistan Navy officials were approached to train the employees but they turned us down, he said, adding that the provincial disaster management authority had been asked to own the project but there was no answer as yet.



Baloch said that the centre aimed to facilitate the people of Sukkur and it would expand its network once they had sufficient funds.

Professionals to the rescue

Rescue centre in charge, Faisal Shaikh, said that out of the 12 divers, four have been deployed at Lab-e-Mehran, three at Sadh Bello, three at the abode of seven sisters (Satiyan Jo Asthan) and two near the Dargah of Sadaruddin Shah Badshah. The two motorboats would also meet the emergency needs, he said, adding that other equipment would be provided soon.

The divers Sikandar Ali, Ayaz and Bhale Dino said that in their private capacity, they were rescuing people and fishing out drowned bodies for almost two decades. Last week, they said, three persons drowned in the river near the Dargah of Sadaruddin Shah Badshah. The bodies of two persons were found after 24 hours, while the third one was still missing.

“Our first and foremost duty is to stop the people from taking baths in the river but most people refuse to listen and then we advise them not to swim out too far. All of them belong to Mirani clan, who are dependent on fishing and, therefore, claim that they had been swimmers from birth,” they said.

River Indus is very deep at the abode of seven sisters (Satiyan Jo Asthan) and its depth there is more than 80 feet, while near Sadh Bello its depth is not more than 20 feet and at Lab-e-Mehran its depth is 10 to 12 feet.

The divers claimed that they were capable of swimming across the river without any life jacket but as far as diving was concerned, they couldn’t survive under water for more than one minute. It would be much better if oxygen cylinders were provided to help stay under water for a longer period, they said. According to them, the families seldom paid them for the job but now they were government employees and were receiving salaries to save lives.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 20^th, 2013.