A preventable tragedy

CHENNAI: In a tragic incident this week, five youngsters drowned in the Moovarasampet panchayat pond while accompanying a dozen people, including priests carrying the idol of the Dharmalingeshwarar temple in Nanganallur, into the water. The boys, who had entered the pond, did not know how to swim. They had lost their balance and had drowned in the deeper end of the water body, even as many onlookers stood by watching helplessly. As per police and witnesses, the victims had gotten stuck in the slush and panicked, due to which they pulled each other into the water.

The drowning at the pond was not the only such accident reported recently. A seven year old boy also lost his life in a Chennai Corporation-administered swimming pool in Periamet. In this case, the police had registered a case against two instructors and a supervisor attached to the pool. In the temple tragedy, the police stated that authorities of the shrine did not inform them that people would be stepping into the pond. What was shocking was the absence of any safety equipment on the site, including a rudimentary rope or lifeline.

Such drownings in temple ponds in Tamil Nadu seem to be a recurring phenomenon. Last September, three schoolboys drowned while bathing in a small pond near a temple in Vellore. The boys had entered the pond, unaware of the fact that it had been recently deepened for the immersion of Ganesha idols after Vinayaka Chathurthi. In 2021, five people including three children lost their lives in the Angalamman temple pond in a village near Pudhu Gummidipoondi.

With regard to the latest episode, the buck is being passed in the aftermath of a regrettable and avoidable incident. The relatives of the deceased as well as the fire and rescue services, and police officials have placed the onus of the deaths on the temple authorities. Police personnel believe that had they been informed in advance, they could have made provisions to provide the site with lifeboats and lifebuoys. What has also irked the police fraternity is how onlookers remained mute spectators to the incident, and had not even attempted to rescue the young men. Criticisms have also been levelled against the police for deploying just one vehicle near the temple amidst the proceedings.

Questions are now being raised on what could have been done to prevent such a senseless calamity. For starters, when was the last time, a thorough safety audit of places of worship, such as temples was carried out in Tamil Nadu. One might recall a massive fire that took place in the Madurai Meenakshi Amman temple in 2018, which gutted as many as 40 shops adjacent to the premises. At that time, then CM Edappadi K Palaniswami had issued orders for a safety audit to be conducted in big ‘senior grade’ temples, calling for a review of existing safety measures, including fire prevention.

While there might be safeguards for big temples, what about the hundreds of smaller shrines located across the State that are usually abutted by a temple pond? The least that can be done is placing a safety barrier like an iron chain or a nylon rope, and barricading people from accessing such regions in the pool. A notice board warning people about the depth of such pools could help prevent further mishaps. While there are no set protocols regarding how people may use such water bodies, temple managements must not sideline safety. They must keep the law enforcement and fire services personnel in the loop, when conducting any such event.