News
People should not be dying in pools, the sea, dams, lakes, rivers and streams
In the afternoon of April 7 this year, a group of trippers arrived at a holiday property in Huluganga, Panwila, which boasted a natural rock pool and a scenic view of the Knuckles range.
Making a beach safe: LSV conducting training in Negombo
An hour later, under a light drizzle, they walked to the pool in Daluk Oya through the Mulberry Estate on which the guesthouse stood. The management later claimed they were advised to be careful. And that a man who escorted them to the secluded pond overshadowed by towering trees was not an employee but a worker on the estate.
But this is not a story about criminal culpability. It is a look at the repeated loss of human life, deaths that are easily preventable, in Sri Lanka’s water bodies. Hundreds perish every year (the annual official fatalities toll is 850) and among them are holidaymakers, both local and foreign. Drowning is the second leading cause of accidental death in Sri Lanka after road hazards. People are dying in pools, the sea, dams, lakes, rivers, streams and many more.
Twenty-five-year-old Andrea Sherilyne Baines, an executive merchandiser, was among the team that went to the natural pool that day. A survivor said they were in the water for around 30 minutes before some came out. Andrea and two friends named Gajana and Nuzha sat on a rock in the middle of the shallow pond while two men, Bindusara and Manjula, continued to bathe.
They had no time to react when a wall of water, caused by rains upstream, crashed down at high velocity from the rock face, sweeping them away with violent force.
Observers said the high gradient at either end of the pool and the prevalence of rocks would have made an immediate rescue attempt impossible. The five bodies were found downstream, all lives snatched in their prime.
When they first went in, the water was up to their knees, survivors said. There was no indication of danger. But why did the guesthouse management not caution their clients about the perils of bathing in the wild while it is raining at higher altitude in the Knuckles range?
“There was not even a sign alerting bathers to the possible dangers,” said a family member of Andrea’s who did not wish to be named. “There was no railing, nothing at all. In beach hotels, managements have a duty to inform their guests not to venture into the sea if the waters are rough. Why does the same not apply to other properties that promote such natural pools as part of their attractions?”
These tragedies are all too common in Sri Lanka. Each time they happen, local inhabitants reveal there is tendency for flash floods to occur when it is raining upstream. And campaigners call for safety measures, such as warning signs, to be prominently erected. But in the absence of legal compulsion to do so, the advice goes unheeded.
In November 2017, eight persons, including four children, were swept away by strong currents while bathing in the Telgamu Oya. That stream, too, is fed by the Knuckles range. Reports of the incident said that, again, the water was up to the victims’ knees before rising unexpectedly. The previous year, two teenage boys drowned in the Huluganga at Orutota, Teldeniya, while bathing with friends.
The guesthouse on Mulberry Estate was not listed with Sri Lanka Tourism. But it needn’t be registered to keep its clients safe. Anyone promoting adventure tourism, including water activities, must be forced to put in place precautionary measures.
Many of these issues were discussed on Tuesday when the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) together with Sri Lanka Life Saving (SLLS) and Australia’s Life Saving Victoria (LSV) convened a workshop on water safety and the leisure sector. LSV has for the past seven years coached Sri Lankan lifeguards and public in water safety and swimming skills, supported by the Australian High Commission in Colombo.
The answer is not to discourage activities such as swimming in natural pools and streams, said Mevan Jayawardena, the Sri Lankan Chief Executive Officer of LSV. “The last thing we want to do is to stop these enjoyments which are part of tourism opportunities,” he pointed out, while in the country with a training team this week. “We want to encourage them to be done in a safe and responsible way.”
First, it must be ensured that people understand the safety considerations and have awareness of the dangers. This is an aspect of personal responsibility and could have instructed the choices those bathers had made at Daluk Oya that day.
Secondly, tourism providers must follow “appropriate” safety measures–as determined by a site-specific risk assessment–mandated through a guidelines system. And these must be adhered to even by small operators wherever there is a water benefit. The Mulberry Estate property openly promoted its natural pool as the main attraction.
There are no assessments done of water bodies in Sri Lanka (except of one beach in Yala carried out by LSV). Users do not know, therefore, what dangers they face when they get in. This has also hit foreigners, among whom there have been multiple deaths.
Among those hotels that do have safety signs, many warn clients that swimming is at their own risk and that there is no lifeguard, not even a pool attendant, on duty.
Such a notice was recently observed at a five-star hotel in Colombo. “Why would you put up such a sign in a five-star hotel when our human resources are there to provide a simple service?” questioned Mr Jayawardena.
Beaches, even those that pose minimum risk to swimmers, are red-flagged when they could easily be converted to safe areas with the use of simple guidelines. Mr Jayawardena described how he had seen a foreign couple dressed in swimwear walk to the edge of the surf in Negombo this week, take a photograph and walk back without getting in because of a red flag.
“This beach is one of the safest we have seen,” he noted. “There is minimal risk which can be managed very easily with Sri Lankan personnel. So why are these tourists going there and turning back? It’s a missed opportunity.”
“We have missed a lot of opportunities,” echoed Nalika Abeysuriya, Assistant Vice President of the John Keells Group and Head of Procurement of its Destination Management Sector. Auditors from international travel groups cross off Sri Lanka’s pristine beaches when they see the red flags or the swimming pools when they see the ‘swim at your own risk’ signs.
“When an auditor comes unannounced and sees those things, we cannot fight,” she said. “We simply have to agree and say that our beaches are not safe.”
But it does not have to be so, said Mr Jayawardena. Sri Lanka has water everywhere, even internally. The temperature is warm all year round and most waterways are accessible. Properly managed, these resources can bring in huge benefits.
“There will be an increased use of natural assets, increased safety for tourists and economic benefits such as local job creation,” he said, referring particularly to military personnel who have been retrained and are now gaining employment in lifesaving. “The public benefit is that more people will understand about water so it can be made safer.”
LSV this week conducted training in Negombo to show how to make a beach safe. A safe stretch of surf was first identified and marked out with two red-and-yellow flags.
Lifeguards, again wearing the internationally recognised colours for lifesaving red and yellow, were stationed on the beach along with equipment such as rescue boards and inflatable rubber boats. And everyone was asked to swim between the flags.
“People go and enjoy,” Mr Jayawardena explained. “So when tourists go to the beach, they see the right personnel with the right uniform and right equipment providing the service there. The message that will emerge on TripAdvisor and everywhere is that Sri Lankan beaches are safe.”
Beaches and other water bodies, including tanks and dams, can be made safe areas for swimming along standardised guidelines, correct equipment and personnel trained to international standard. The requirement must be integrated into a national strategy and promoted globally. Only a fraction of the tourism potential in Sri Lanka is being exploited and a few strategic steps can change that picture dramatically.