As July begins and the mercury continues to hover in the 40s, youngsters continue flocking to the city’s lakes and streams to find places to take a dip in the water. This is in spite of the fact that Rawal Lake and other such places have already been scenes of over a dozen drowning cases in the past two months.
The Secretariat police said they rounded up over a hundred youngsters from the Kinara Restaurant on a bank of Rawal Lake side after imposing Section 144 in the area. Moreover, six men were arrested for violating the prohibition on swimming and were presented before a magistrate who released them on bail on Friday, the police said.
“We have effectively stopped people from jumping into Rawal Lake and our men are permanently deployed there,” said Capt (retd) Muhammad Illyas, the Superintendent of City Police (SP).
However, some parts of Rawal Dam, including those within a 500 metre radius of the spillway — where swimming and bathing is strictly prohibited — are still poorly protected. Some people were seen swimming in the area on Saturday. On this, the SP said, “That area does not fall under our jurisdiction.”
The Punjab Irrigation Department is responsible for maintenance and security of the spillway, but has only seven guards for the area, and even they work in shifts. In addition, none of the guards know how to swim, and would be unable to rescue anyone in case of an emergency.
“Neither the irrigation department nor the CDA have taken any measures to warn people of the hazards of diving in the lake,” said a police official, who added that the police had to take the decision to place warning signs in the area unilaterally.
Most such summer swimmers do not know how to swim properly and they can drown if they accidentally move into deep waters, the police said. “This was the case in almost all swimming related deaths here,” said an investigation officer from the Secretariat police.
After being barred from splashing around in Rawal Lake, some defiant young men went in search of other places. A number of them were seen heading towards Simly Dam, the capital’s primary water reservoir, said another police official.
Nilore Police Station House Officer Muhammad Asjad confirmed that some people were spotted nearby, but his staff did not allow them to jump into the artificial lake.
“So far, no one has been reported diving in the dam, but we did see some people coming this way to try,” he added. The Nilore police said they need the CDA and other concerned authorities to step up and take measure to effectively stop people from risking their lives.
The city police feared the number of such life-risking swimmers could double or triple in the coming days as the meteorological department has predicted another heat wave will hit the town soon.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 1st, 2012.
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