The death of singer Zubeen Garg in a scuba diving mishap has us all asking, are adventure sports too dangerous? Only if you don’t consider the risk seriously and fail to prepare, say experts
Clicked by Vikrant Man Singh during one of his dives in Andamans
Akshata Khetan, 28, is a self-professed water baby and has been diving for the past four years. In a full circle moment, the open-water diver is now headed to Havelock island in the Andaman Sea — the site of her first dive — to obtain her advanced certification. Khetan’s love for water comes alive during these diving expeditions. “When you are in your full gear and you look down just before you dive, you realise that this is an entirely different world. No matter who you are above sea level, it doesn’t matter down below. Here [in the sea] you are just a dot,” Khetan tells us over a phone call.
Vikrant Man Singh is a diving instructor who says people are not upfront about their co-morbidities
When the news of Assamese singer Zubeen Garg’s demise in a scuba diving mishap in Singapore first broke, it immediately sparked national discourse over how scuba diving and other adventure sports were “dangerous”. Many argued that India is not ready for adventure tourism, with poor regulation of facilities and lack of awareness about safety protocols among people. The outrage toned down after the famous musician’s wife, Garima Saikia-Garg, told media outlets that he had suffered a seizure during his dive.
Akshata Khetan is going for training for advanced diving course in a few months
Khetan agrees, however, that people tend to take adventure sports too lightly. “A medical crisis like a heart attack can happen at any time, but it is up to us to make sure that we get our hearts checked every six months. Just go talk to a doctor before heading out for a holiday with extreme sports,” she says.
Khetan’s diving instructor, Vikrant Man Singh, 34, has over 10 years of experience as an instructor. He is a co-partner at Scuba Yogi Dive Centre and runs a divers Cafe and resort called Vibes and Dives out of Andaman, “When we go on vacations, we tend to take everything lightly. We are usually drinking and having a good time. When we are diving, we think we are going with professionals and they will take care of us,” he says. Man Singh points out that a lot of people hide their co-morbidities while filling up the indemnity form — a must before the dive — limiting the instructors’ ability to take appropriate precautions. “Once a man did not reveal to us that he was on medication for depression and anxiety. The night before his first certification session, he messaged me saying he was uneasy. We stop people from diving if they are on medication unless they get the liability form filled by their physicians. Most people do not tell us the truth,” adds the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) certified instructor.
Artist and poet Zubeen Garg’s death has brought up the conversation of the unregulated side of adventure sport. PIC/GETTY IMAGES
In 2022, the government also gave the sector a push, launching the National Strategy for Adventure Tourism 2022. The vision, states the Ministry of Tourism website, is to position India as a globally preferred destination for adventure tourism.
Kim Sabir, a yachtsman, rock climber, and co-founder of Adventure Breaks in Goa, feels that many operators in his industry cut costs. But many who try out adventure sports also do not have the understanding that these activities have an inherent risk. “You cannot be into adventure sports with no risk. Even with experienced climbers, he/she can meet with an accident that maims or kills them. Although, adventure sports have very high standards of safety as well,” he adds.
Kim Sabir
Sabir, an adrenaline junkie himself, resonates with the concerns Mansingh raised about the lack of transparency from participants. “As for operators who cut corners on safety, it’s also the duty of the adventure-seeker to check their credibility, while being upfront about their health too,” he adds. While the debate about responsibility and safety rages on, for those who are conscientious, adventure sports still promises the high of adrenaline. “Once you cross that line of fear, the feeling is indescribable,” Khetan signs off.
Fitness baseline is a must
Dr Anuj Tiwari, Physician and Geriatrician
Dr Anuj Tiwari
“The ability of someone to do adventure sports depends on their fitness baseline. If someone is regularly doing cardio and strength training can go for such activities but there are few pre-requisites for someone who is doing it for the first time, which are related to cardiac health (heart), respiratory (lungs) and musculoskeletal that have to do with your joints. You get tests done to see the levels of your Hemoglobin, Thyroid, blood pressure and sugar, an ECG or 2D Echo for the heart as well as a basic chest X-ray for lungs. You have to start working two to three months before engaging in these activities. We usually don’t give a clean chit to people with uncontrolled hypertension/diabetes/heart disease (including heart failure and untreated blockages in the heart), obesity, anaemia (low blood levels), poorly controlled asthma.”
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
