Day out turns into disaster as 3 drown off Aksa beach

Three more fatalities were yesterday added to the list of those who lost their lives while taking a swim at Aksa beach raising safety concerns for visitors to the popular beach On Sunday morning nine young men from Malad area went to play cricket at the beach and decided to go for a swim Three of them died while one is admitted at Bhagwati Hospital The friends and family of the deceased blame the deaths on the lack of rescue services Kin console Darshan Dalvirsquos younger brother Mahesh who was with Darshan at the beach when he drowned Darshan Dalvi Rohit a friend of the three who died said ldquoIf the authorities at the beach had used their emergency rescue systems like speed boats maybe my friends would have been alive todayrdquo He said that the beach authorities have all the necessary facilities but do not use them in the hour of need Sandesh Mungekar being rescued by fire brigade officers He added ldquoAlso they do not even have a simple first aid boxrdquo There have been many complaints over lifeguards beach safety paraphernalia or emergency services not reaching in time for rescue operations at Aksa beach but authorities are yet to take note of the growing list of the drowning casualties Mayor Sunil Prabhu visits 25yearold Sandesh Mungekar at Bhagwati Hospital where he was admitted after being rescued by locals Seventeenyearold Mahesh Dalvi is in shock that his elder brother Darshan Dalvi is no more Both of them were part of the group Waiting to take his brotherrsquos body home from the hospital Mahesh kept asking his uncle Vijay ldquoWhere is my brother Has this really happenedrdquou00a0 He could not stop blaming himself for not being able to help his brother survive Darshan was the only earning member in his family ldquoMy son Darshan was the strongest pillar of our family He had completed his B Com exams just yesterday He had educated himself and his two younger siblings He worked parttime and helped me run my familyrdquo said his father Rajan Dalvi Deadly dip Every Sunday the boys from Rajan Pada area of Malad gathered to play cricket by the beach Yesterday after a long game the group of nine headed towards the sea for a dip But while they were coming back to the shore from their swim four of them Darshan Dalvi 25 Sandesh Mungekar 25 Rakesh Nalavade 22 and Mayuresh Naik 17 got swept away by the high tide On hearing the screams of the boys two men close to the spot ran to help them But they could manage to rescue only Darshan and Sandesh The other two had been swept deep into sea by then The nearby Malvani police was informed and the fire brigade called Darshan and Sandesh were rushed to the Bhagwati hospital in Borivli However only Sandesh survived the journey Darshan was declared dead on arrival by hospital authorities Search was on for almost three hours for the other two boys Rakesh and Mayureshu00a0 Around 145 pm their bodies were spotted and recovered from the deep waters They did not survive the sea Rakesh worked with a BPO and was the only son His father went in shock after hearing of the incident Mayuresh had completed his Std XII Board exam and wanted to be an engineer He lived with his father and did odd jobs to support his family The doctor who attended to Sandesh said ldquoHe is stable but under shock because of the incident He would be soon dischargedrdquo ldquoAll these boys are childhood friends Theyrsquod go to play at the beach every Sunday They usually do not enter the sea This must have been the first time We are fortunate that Sandesh is finerdquo said Sandeshrsquos elder brother Nilesh About eight lifeguards are supposed to man the beach on a Sunday and two to three speedboats are present at the location But the BMCrsquos rescue team comes in action only after a call reaches them following which an additional force is dispatched to the spot Deputy chief officer PS Rahandale said ldquoAksa beach has always been a danger spot and many warnings have been issued to the public about it There is a board that cautions people against going swimming in the waters but they ignore it Our lifeguards were present at the spot and they also helped rescue the boysrdquo Past deaths April 14 2010 Three boys aged 18 10 and 14 on a picnic with six others on Aksa beach drowned while their companions were rescued by the owners of some beach stalls The lone lifeguard was on a holiday on the day All nine were from Jogeshwari39s Hari Pehelwan chawl Two of the deceased were brothers July 23 2012 An 18yearold boy was feared drowned off Aksa beach The Malwani police said that 13 firstyear management students of Thakur College ventured into the sea Three of them got pulled in by the high tide Nidhish Ratnakar Shetty could not be found Malwani police saidu00a0