Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: As thousands of beachgoers, including Goans and tourists, thronged to the state’s beaches to usher in the New Year 2025, the state’s packed beaches witnessed 21 incidents in the last week of 2024, by Drishti Marine, the state-appointed lifesaving agency.
Among the 21 rescue incidents, there were two triple rescues, five double rescues and 14 single rescues, bringing the total number of people rescued to 30. Drishti Marine also reunited 18 missing persons, including 17 children, with their families after completing identification and handover formalities and administered first aid to 11 beachgoers over the New Year break.
Palolem: A triple rescue took place off Palolem beach, where three males from Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka aged 30, 35 and 37 were drowning. Drishti Marine lifesavers Ramesh Velip and Pradeep Velip rushed to rescue them with a surfboard and jet ski, bringing them safely to shore. There were also two separate single rescue incidents at the same beach – a 32-year-old woman from Karwar got swept by strong waves and began drowning, and was rescued by lifesaver Mangesh Keluskar with a rescue tube; a kayaker aged 36 from Karnataka fell out of the kayak and was rescued by lifesaver Parshuram Tari with a jet ski.
Mandrem: A triple rescue, involving a 17-year-old male and 66-year-old female from Kyrgyzstan and a 13-year-old individual from Pune, took place off Mandrem beach. Lifesavers Yuvraj Revankar, Tanaji Bhagat and Sakharam Bandekar brought the three to shore safely with the help of jet skis and rescue boards after noticing them in distress. There were also two separate single rescue incidents at the same beach, with lifesavers utilising rescue boards and jet skis to aid the mission – a Russian woman, aged 26, was rescued by lifesavers Yuvraj Revankar and Nagesh Sarang; and a 37-year-old male from Hyderabad was rescued by lifesavers Jetan Girap and Nagesh Sarang.
Calangute: Two double rescues took place off Calangute beach – two individuals aged 32 and 36 from Rajasthan, were rescued by lifesavers Kartik Naik, Manoj Manjhi and Sanjay Yadav; two individuals from Bangalore aged 27 were rescued by lifesaver Suraj Bind with a rescue tube. A single rescue took place at the same beach, where lifesavers Sanjay Yadav, Soma Lataye, Sujan Nagvekar and Nakul Usapkar saved a 21-year-old Andhra Pradesh native with rescue tubes and surfboards.
Candolim: A double rescue took place off Candolim beach, where two male Maharashtra natives aged 24, were rescued by lifesaver Raj Singh with a rescue board. There were also four separate single rescue incidents reported from the same beach. An 84-year-old resident of England was rescued by lifesaver Sourabh Patil with a rescue board; a 30-year-old Karnataka resident was rescued by lifesavers Divakar Desai and Suraj Sawant with a rescue board and rescue tube; a 45-year-old Haryana native was rescued by lifesaver Anand Khavnekar with a rescue tube; a 16-year-old Bangalore native was rescued by lifesaver Krishna Shiddekar with a rescue tube.
Agonda: A double rescue took place off Agonda beach. Two male residents of Bangalore, aged 26, began drowning and were promptly rescued by lifesaver Bhikesh Velip with a jet ski.
Arambol: A double rescue took place off Arambol beach, involving two male beachgoers, one Russian and one Goan, who were rescued by lifesavers Harshad Chandekar and Dattaguru Korgaonkar with a rescue board and jet ski.
Colva: Colva beach witnessed two separate rescue incidents – a 72-year-old Russian male was rescued by lifesaver Sachin Sukate with a surfboard; and an inebriated 17-year-old male from West Bengal was rescued by lifesaver Krishna Naik with a jet ski, after being previously warned by the on-duty lifesavers against entering the water.
Baga: An inebriated beachgoer entered the water off Baga beach against the warnings of the on-duty lifesavers and Beach Safety Patrol (BSP). He was then brought out of the water by lifesaver Sachin Kashyapnuti and BSP Harsh Moyekar with a rescue board and tube.
Majorda: A 66-year-old male Non-Resident Indian (NRI) from Salcete was rescued by lifesaver Dinesh Manjrekar after he ceased moving while swimming off Majorda beach. On bringing him to shore, Manjrekar noted that he had breathing difficulties and cleared his airway, administered oxygen, and handed him over to the ambulance. He was taken to Hospicio Hospital in Margao, where he was administered further treatment.
Vagator: A 35-year-old resident of Nagaland was rescued off Vagator beach by lifesavers Yaswant Kurle and Yogesh Gadekar with a rescue board and jet ski.
As the new year begins, Drishti Marine urges everyone to heed the advice of lifesavers and exercise caution while entering the water in the year ahead.
