Alarming rate of the increase of drowning deaths in the district has been a concern for the local and district administration. Drowning death case studies have revealed that drowning deaths are more among the students, teenagers and the youth.
Alarmed by the drowning deaths in the district, the municipalities have taken up plans to set up swimming pools of their own.
The Rishra, Serampore, Baidyabati, Konnagar municipalities have taken up initiatives to set up swimming pools. The Rishra Municipality chairman Vijay Sagar Mishra said, “It is alarming that most of the drowning deaths are occurring among teenagers and the youth. The need to train them in swimming pools from the school level is necessary. Besides regular classes stress must be paid on swimming as a mandatory extracurricular activity. Most of the state-run schools may not have the infrastructure to set up a swimming pool for the students hence the municipalities have come forward to have their own swimming pools, especially for students.“
Bengal Swimming Association sub-committee member and representative of district swimming association Shibaji Ghosh said, “It has been found that most victims of drowning do not know swimming. Most of the drowning deaths are caused due to carelessness. The schools should include swimming as an extra-curricular activity.”