Lifeguards back at city beaches again, thanks to GVMC initiative

38 trained personnel to be deployed at Bheemunipatnam, RK Beach and Yarada

To ensure that the local beaches are safe for tourists, the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) has relaunched the ‘Community Guards’ initiative.

The civic body has already recruited 44 trained personnel, of which six will be kept in reserve, to mitigate drowning incidents which are witnessing a spurt in recent months at major tourist destinations along the city’s coastline such as RK Beach, Jodugullapalem, Rushikonda, Bheemunipatnam and Yarada.

Addressing a press conference at the GVMC office on the relaunch of CGs, Mayor G. Hari Venkata Kumari said that to select eligible candidates, the corporation sought the help of National Institute of Water Sports (NIWS). A four-member GVMC team including Additional Commissioners V. Sanyasi Rao and Y. Srinivasa Rao was also constituted to monitor the recruiting process.

The authorities conducted rigorous selection trials at the Railway Stadium Swimming Pool and at RK Beach, the Mayor informed.

“As many as 175 eligible candidates took part in the selections. In the first round, two screening tests were organised. While one was about covering 400 metres in 10 minutes in freestyle, the second test was a 200-m run with 200 m of swimming and again followed by a 200 m run in eight minutes,” the Mayor told reporters.

“Fifty-eight candidates were shortlisted in the first round. In the second round, another run followed by a swimming test was conducted at RK Beach. A total of 38 candidates and an additional backup of six candidates were selected in a transparent manner,“ she said, releasing the list of the selected candidates.