Two children who had come along with their parents to Goa, lost their lives — one at sea, the other one in a swimming pool — bringing gloom along the coastal belt just as most were ready to sign off the season in a buoyant mood.
A few days before these two incidents, a tourist who had gone winching landed badly, but fortunately it wasn’t serious and hence, went unreported.
The three incidents at the end of the season have hurt all emotionally, especially the families of the children who lost their lives when they should have been enjoying their holidays. All three incidents are worth recalling as they indicate that health and safety is still not a priority here, in Goa.
If attention was paid to safety, such incidents could have been avoided. The use of life vests is mandatory when going out to sea. People do it all over the world, except in India, where it is looked at as a societal dysfunction when it should be just the opposite.
Wearing a life vest when going into the sea, or when playing in a swimming pool should be mandatory whether the environ is new or not.
It is difficult to say what took the breath away of the kid who went for a swim in the sea, or the kid who died in the swimming pool. If the children were left unattended for even a few seconds, that would be enough to cause disaster.
Maybe, their fate would have been the same had they worn vests because an individual’s time on Earth cannot be predicted but, the pain would have been less if safety norms had been adhered to.
There are lifeguards on the beach, but with the rush of tourists it could be that they were not enough to keep an eye on all who venture into the water, especially kids who are expected to be under the care of their parents.
Similarly, swimming pools in hotels or elsewhere need to have attendants capable of keeping an eye on kids, and perhaps even making their time in the pool more enjoyable.
This did not seem to be the case here, and this needs some thinking by stakeholders for it is such incidents that leave a black mark on Goa’s tourism, worse than what the so-called influencers can do.
If what happened to the two kids was sad, the incident where the individual who went winching and came crashing down in the sea could have been far worse, or an indicator that despite the paragliding incident, tourism stakeholders in water sports are taking matters lightly.
There was no major injury, but safety norms were not followed. The individual will probably never try the sport again, but the moot point is, why is importance not given to safety?
Had it been fatal, water sports activities would possibly have been banned till systems were put in place, and till such time, there would have been arguments and counter arguments on what happened and what should have been done, while water sports would have been in limbo just as paragliding is.
Life is connected to death, but that does not mean that it can be taken lightly. Neither are in our hands, and that is why restraint and the use of safety is a must when living.
Tourism is not just about drinking, eating and sightseeing, but about learning to care for lives. The emphasis seems skewed here, but it’s never too late to restart. Somebody has to bell the cat.