Safety first: Bathing to be banned on some canal sections

LAHORE:

Bathing would be prohibited in some sections of the canal and life guards would be deputed along the rest of the canal, said Naseem Sadiq, the newly appointed district coordination officer, at his first meeting with the city government on Monday.

The ban has been proposed due to several incidents of drowning. The city government has expressed its resolve to declare certain sections of the canal off limits. However, it has yet to determine the depth at which the sections would be declared unsafe.

Sadiq said elimination of measles and dengue fever, completion of ongoing development projects, and resolution of issues involving the General Bus Stand and Shah Pur Kanjran Cattle Market were his top priorities. The crackdown against sheesha cafes would continue and additional measures would be taken in this regard.

“There will be proper coordination among all departments of the city government,” he said.

Sadiq directed town administrators to monitor and complete the ongoing development projects in their areas.

He said an awareness campaign would be launched regarding bathing in the canal. The government also plans on deputing Civil Defence life guards along the canal. The decision on how many guards to depute is yet to be made. Staff officer to the DCO Tariq Zaman said that they would work out a plan in the next few days. He said the unsafe sections of the canal were yet to be identified. The ban would likely be imposed in two days.

Irrigation Dept too seeks ban on bathing

The Irrigation Department, too, has asked the government to implement a law forbidding bathing in the canal. The request has come through XEN Sadaqat Latif.

He said, “Under the Canal and Drainage Act, no human or animal is allowed to bathe in the canal. Accidents happen because people don’t respect the law.”

He said people needed to understand that bathing in the canal was dangerous.

Over the last week of June alone, at least five people were reported to have been drowned while bathing in the canal.

But people, who turn to bathing in the canal say the free-of-cost recreation opportunity is irresistible in the summers.

“What else can we do during summers with no electricity?” Wasim Ahmed, a resident of Jallo Mor and a regular visitor at the canal, asked.

He said he earned Rs10,000 a month and could not afford to pay for a swimming pools.

For Ramazan Ali, another habitual visitor at the canal and a shopkeeper of Landa Bazaar, bathing in the canal and spending afternoons with family there is the cheapest source of entertainment.

Talking to The Express Tribune, a group of boys from Kasur, who were seen diving one after another from an overhead bridge, said, “Life and death are in God’s hands.”

Published in The Express Tribune, June 11^th, 2013.