WARANGAL: The scorching heat this summer has left people looking for ways to cool off and save themselves from heat stroke. The temperature in Warangal is surging upwards with the mercury level touching 47 degrees Celsius. In villages, the humble coolers are providing only a small respite from the heat. As a result, many people prefer to stay outdoors under leafy trees or go for a swim in the village tanks.
Being summer vacation, the school and college students who go to their native villages are making plans to go to the village tank and beat the heat. Going for a swim with friends could be fun during the peak summer weather, but many such trips have turned fatal, leaving the parents in deep sorrow. The children are going to the water tanks without informing their parents and without proper guidance. As a result, many children have met a watery grave. In the past one month, 26 deaths due to drowning were reported from Warangal Urban, Warangal Rural, Jangaon, Mahbubabad and Jayashankar Bhupalapalli districts. Most of the deaths were between the age group of 8 and 12.
Unfortunately, the tanks were deeper than usual. “As part of Mission Kakatiya, desiltation works were conducted at several village tanks and as a result, they have become deeper than they used to be. Also the river bed has become uneven and muddy. Not realising this, the children are jumping into the tanks and are slipping down into the water, unable to find their footing. When someone who does not know how to swim slips, they can’t come back to the surface,” said P. Raghavaiah of Vishwanathapuram village in station Ghanpur, where three children drowned recently on May 11.
The commissioner of Police G. Sudheer Babu said that they have intensified patrolling near village tanks and have put up boards saying swimming in the tanks are dangerous. However, the children are ignoring these warnings. The commissioner said the parents also must keep an eye on their children and warn them against going to swim in the tanks.
