Fatal accidents raise concern over dangers of swimming in Cauvery

Three school students drown in Cauvery, highlighting the dangers of swimming without training in Tiruchi.

The incidence of three school students drowning in the Cauvery has raised concern over lack of awareness of the dangers of swimming without adequate training in Tiruchi.

Three boys had drowned in the Cauvery on Monday evening after they separated from their group of friends, all Class X students from a city school, while swimming at the Ayyalamman bathing ghat, and had ventured into deeper waters.

Their bodies were retrieved after an extensive search operation conducted on Monday and Tuesday by teams of firefighters from Tiruchi, Srirangam, and Perambalur.

The tragedy highlighted the risk that untrained swimmers face while in open waters.

“Swimming is an essential skill for all young people, and should be taught in schools, so that they can protect themselves from mishaps. In this case, the boys had come as a group after their exams, and accessed the river through the Ayyalamman ghat. It is said that the three victims had chosen to swim in a more turbulent part of the Cauvery where whirlpools are common,” a senior official of the Fire and Rescue Department station in Tiruchi, told The Hindu.

Approximately 120 cases of drowning were reported in the past year at the Tiruchi station.

The official added that it is common to find crocodiles and other riverine wildlife in the Cauvery, and advised the public to obey warning signs put up by the authorities before stepping into the water.