Swimming in the sea in Puri could be safer now. Rattled by a spurt of drowning incidents in the Bay of Bengal in the last few weeks, the district administration has engaged a voluntary organization to provide lifejackets to tourists free of cost.

Initially Swati, the Khurda-based NGO, has pressed into service 200 jackets on the beach near Swargadwar. Minister Maheswar Mohanty inaugurated the service on the beach on Sunday.

"The free lifesaving jacket service would certainly check drowning mishaps in the sea. We have asked the service provider to extend the service in other patches of the beach soon," Bijay Kumar Jena, Puri tourist officer said.

"Since it will be a free service, we have urged the district administration to provide us some trained lifeguards, who could be paid by the government. Besides, the administration should spread awareness about the free service on beach," said Krushna Chandra Nisanka, a functionary of Swati.

Three persons, including two students, drowned in the sea in the last one week. Santanu Mukherjee, a second year hospital management student of Durgapur Paramedical College, was sucked into the sea on October 23. He was part of a 44-member team from the West Bengal college.

Giant waves claimed the lives of Alok Mohapatra, a trader, and Kumar Gaurav, an engineering student, on the occasion of Diwali on October 26. Body of an unidentified person was found on the beach on Saturday. Police suspect he too drowned in the sea.

Police said as many as 20 persons have so far drowned in the sea this year while fishermen claimed the casualty figure would touch forty-one.

"The government should identify bathing and no-bathing zones on the beach. Skilled lifeguards should be engaged and paid well by the government," said Srimanta Kumar Dash, MD of Hotel Santana.

TOI