Playing it safe: Lifeguards have to work two extra hours

Civic authorities have asked the lifeguards to work for an extra two hours everyday during the four months of monsoon.

At present, BMC has 13 permanent, 27 contractual and 10 men hailing from Koli or fisherfolk community (hired for only four months) as lifeguards for all the major beaches. 

All the prima eight beaches - Girgaum, Dadar, Juhu, Aksa, Madh, Marve, Manori and Gorai — are crowded almost everyday. While, ideally, it is expected that there will be a pair of lifeguards every two kilometres on the beaches, with only 49 lifeguards the civic body struggles to maintain the standard. 

However, to bridge the gap, BMC had started a recruitment drive. Pratap Rahangdale, deputy chief fire officer of the Mumbai Fire Brigade, said the civic body asked all the ‘boys’ to work for an extra two hours. “We will compensate them for the extra hours. We have increased their pay from Rs8,000 to Rs10,000 for 10 hours of duty. To temporary lifeguards we will pay Rs8,000, a rise from Rs6,000.”

“As for the duty timings of the lifeguards, the first shift will be from 9am to 7pm and the second from 12pm to 10pm. This will ensure that there is maximum presence of lifeguards between 12pm to 7pm when most people visit the beaches,” said Rahangdale.

The civic administration positions fire brigade officers on Sundays and holidays at the beaches. It also requests for police presence on beaches on heavy tourist days, and deploy 300 civil defence cadets.