Beach is fun and playing by the beach is something enjoyed by all. While saying this it remains an understood fact that the sea like all elements of nature can be unpredictable and capricious.

One more innocent life is feared lost at sea. As per The Hindu – “Sunday picnic to mark the ongoing Kartika masam outings, turned tragic for a group of friends who had gone for a swim at Revupolavaram beach under S Rayavaram police station limits in the district, as one of them went missing and is feared to have drowned. Three others, however, swam to safety with the help of local fishermen. The missing student has been identified as K Appala Raju, student of Std X and resident of Rukhminipuram. SI B Arun Kumar said 11 students, including seven girls and four boys from ZP High School, Purusothapuram area, came to the beach on Sunday for a picnic.”

This is not a solitary incident and one in many. But why do we keep losing lives at sea?

The warning signs across the 28 kms of Vizag coast are many. ‘Beware of Danger’, ‘Beware of rip currents’, and so on, glaring at us in warning. The Government is taking measures to avoid precious lives lost. Be it tourists, locals, young or the older, many people often risk their lives on the Vizag coast. The news of incidents reporting loss of life at the beach are scarily frequent, and despite the knowledge that the beach is dangerous, one can still see many people on the sands deep in the water, beyond limits of safety.
Like all elements of nature, the waters are a treacherous force. Abundantly exposed, Vizag has not witnessed a stop to the tragedy. Exuberance of youth, excitement and energy, inspirations from movie stunts, selfie mania along with the attitude that ‘this is not going to happen to me’ are some of the many factors that make people throw caution to the wind. It’s time to ring in change. So does the onus for this lie with the government and should they enhance security and safety levels in the region? Or does it lie with us as citizens to make our city safer?