Medak: 100 Drowned in Last 90 Days

Medak: Water bodies in erstwhile Medak district have turned into death traps with at least 100 people meeting with a watery grave in them in the past three months since October 1.

Since the district received heavy rains in the last monsoon, all the water bodies in the district are brimming.

While a good number of people drowned when they ventured into the water bodies for fishing, most of them died after they accidentally slipped into the waters.

While Medak district recorded 50 deaths, Sangareddy and Siddipet districts recorded 36 and 14 deaths respectively during October- December. On an average, the erstwhile district reported at least one death in every water body.

Since the water bodies were brimming, they attracted people, many of whom drowned when they ventured into the tanks for fishing without precautions and proper knowledge about their depth. There were also some cases of fishermen entering the waters in a drunken state and unable to swim back to the shore. At least half a dozen fishermen drowned after their legs got entangled in the fishing nets in the deep waters.

In a recent instance, two men drowned in a tank in Medak district when they ventured into the water body in a drunken state. At least half a dozen deaths reported were suicides during the three months. Though Medak district has relatively fewer water bodies and is a smaller district compared to Siddipet and Sangareddy, it reported more drowning deaths than the other two.

Though no government department has maintained the exact details of drowning deaths, a quick look at cases reported in various police station limits indicate that as many as 100 people drowned in the past three months across the district. Negligence was seen as a major reason in most cases.

On Tuesday evening, a visitor to Palugu Pochamma Temple drowned when he ventured into a tank near the temple in a drunken state in Hanthnoora mandal of Sangareddy district.

Speaking to Telangana Today, B Subhash, a local, said the Irrigation Department must place signboards at all the water bodies besides appointing a person to monitor the movement of people visiting the tanks. He further said the Fisheries Department must conduct regular sensitisation programmes for the fishermen community and train them on fishing besides distributing life-jackets to them.

The district also recorded a number of deaths during July, August and September months, but the exact figures are not known.

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