The victims — both students of the Dharavi-based Rajarshi Shahu College — had come to the waterfront with another college-mate, Hodi Jaiswal, 17.
Incidents of people drowning in rough waters continue to swell this monsoon.
On Monday morning, around 9.30am, two 18-year-old college students, Irfan Shaikh, and Masleuddin Hashmi, were swept in by the rocky sea at the Bandra Bandstand. The victims — both students of the Dharavi-based Rajarshi Shahu College — had come to the waterfront with another college-mate, Hodi Jaiswal, 17. A family member of one of the deceased said that the three had bunked college.
The police said that initially the three boys had perched themselves on a rock by the seaside. But after a while, Shaikh and Hashmi decided to venture into the sea. Jaiswal decided to stay put where he was. The victims went a few steps too far into the sea, and were swept in by the current. Seeing them drowning, Jaiswal did the wisest thing — he kept calling people to save his friends.
Volunteers and fishermen jumped into the rescue act, but after three hours, they managed to fish out the bodies of Shaikh and Hashmi. It was the fourth drowning mishap in a span of 24 hours since Sunday afternoon. The other mishaps across the city claimed four more lives.
The toll would have been higher had not Rupa Jaiswal, 27, been rescued in time after she fell into the sea at the Gateway around 7.30pm on Sunday.
At 9am on Monday, the National Disaster Response Force recovered the body of Ganesh Durgade, 22, who drowned in Vihar Lake on Sunday evening. Rahim Abbas Ali, 13, drowned in a pit at an under-construction site at Juhu Galli, Andheri (West), late on Sunday evening. Jayesh Majhgaokar, 27, and Pramod Damodar, 29, drowned at Magar dam, Sanjay Gandhi National Park, around 3pm on Sunday.
Chief fire officer Uday Tatkare blamed the mishaps on the tendency of people to venture into rough seas. He urged people to keep away from the waterfront during high tide.
Volunteers and fishermen involved in the failed rescue operation at Bandstand alleged that despite being present at the site, fire brigade personnel chose not to act. “We caught hold of a fisherman’s boat and used his fishing net to drag the bodies out of water,” Bradley Quadros, who tried to save the boys, said.
Tatkare, however, said, “The rescue operation was effective as BMC lifeguards were deployed, and the bodies were recovered with the help of local people.” The 1.2km stretch of Bandra Bandstand, infamous for drowning incidents, has not a single lifeguard.
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