Mangaluru (TOI): Lifeguards of Panambur Beach Tourism Development Project (PBTDP) had a busy day that started in the early hours of Saturday with the rescue of four techies from Bengaluru out on a weekend otur and ended with rescuing two more tourists - from drowning. In between, the lifeguards also spotted a runaway teen - also from Bengaluru, informed his parents and handed him over to jurisdictional police station till they came and took him back.
Their day started at 6.45am when the lifeguards rescued four tourists - part of a group of seven from Bengaluru who descended on the beach. Yatish Baikampady, chief executive officer of PBTDP said the tourists were residents of Tin Factory Layout working for a private IT company. Those rescued are Vishwanath Swami, 25, son of Kashidhar, Sunil, 23, son of Narasimha, Suhas, 21, son of Suresh, and Karthik, 24, son of Chandrappa, Yatish noted.
Joining the lifeguards in the rescue act was Francis D'Souza, a shopkeeper at the beach. The tourists who were unable to fathom the danger posed by alluring waves were lucky to be spotted by the lifeguards in time. A lifeguard just coming in for duty said since he was alone and there was one other lifeguard on beach, they sought the help of Francis, an expert swimmer and ensure that the techies swept away by a rip current were rescued in the nick of time.
Later in the day, the lifeguards spotting Mahendra, 15, a 10th standard student of a private school in Bengaluru and residing at Kamsagara Kabbala post, Sathanoor hobli, Kanakapura, Ramnagara. The boy was missing for the past 20-days. Seeing the lone boy, the lifeguards questioned him and coming to know his case, informed him parents. A lifeguard on duty at the beach said the parents of the boy have since come and taken the boy with them.
Later in the day, the lifeguards rescued two tourists from Tamil Nadu from drowning at 6pm. They are Vijay, 21, son of Jayavelu, Vayanadu, Atthur Selam, Tamilnadu and Udaya Shushiyan, 21, son of Anandan Murarpathu, Villupuram, Tamilnadu. Till now, lifeguards of the project have saved more than 150 lives, including 107 at Panambur beach. Yatish said a major problem that tourists get themselves in to is misreading the rip current that often sucks them in.
