KARACHI, July 14: The Emergency Rescue Centre (ERC) of the city government on Thursday introduced flag system at beaches on Thursday for the safety of picnickers, a senior official said. “We have hoisted orange flags inscribed with ‘ERC’ at certain points along the city beaches,” the chief fire officer Kazim Ali told Dawn. Explaining the system, he said that an ERC flag meant that watch and ward service with lifeguards was available up to this point indicating that people should avoid going beyond this limit.

The lifeguards would be available from 9:00am to 7:30pm and beachgoers must keep the timings in mind, he said, adding that they could seek further information from the emergency centre.

He said that people had been facing difficulties in finding lifeguards at beaches but now when the flag system had been introduced, they could easily locate them.

Mr Kazim said that the Sindh governor had taken keen interest in the ERC working and on his directives, the provincial government had enhanced the ERC budget from Rs0.5 million to Rs10 million in the new budget. He described the increase as ‘unprecedented’ and stated that the funds would be spent on beach safety measures, including improvement in performance and procurement of essential items.

He said that kits and other utensils at present available with the ERC were not up to the mark. “We need divers’ helmets, rescue tubes, flappers, goggles, lifejackets and other items which were essential in rescue operation”, he added. He said that at present, four watchtowers were operational and 10 more would be built in the next year.

According to the CFO, 46 lifeguards cannot cover the 29-km-long beach and at least 50 more will have to be recruited. He said that he was preparing a proposal to recruit residents of nearby villages. They would be imparted basic training in rescue operation, he added.

The ERC works under the Fire Brigade Department of the City government. Electricity has been made available to the Centre but despite being an essential service, the facility is still without a landline phone connection. Certain fire brigade officials had recently taken an initiative and obtained a mobile phone connection. The phone (No. 0345-2075018) has been placed at the ERC to receive distress calls.

The officials said that the ERC did not have necessary equipment, like motorboats, diving kits, lifejackets, etc., for surface and underwater rescue operation. In this regard, they cited examples of such organizations in other countries which had even helicopters at their disposal.

They pointed out that the ERC had to borrow boats from local fishermen to rescue someone or fish out a body. The other option was to seek the help of coast guards and navy.

They indicated that lifeguards were posted at some distance the beach to keep a watch on those resorting to cross the safety line. “However, people usually do not listen to their warnings and would defy their instructions,” they added.

The Hawkesbay beach is 22-km-long and the Old Clifton beach nine-km-long (from Shireen Jinnah to old casino).

Mr Kazim said that the Seaview beach, Manora and Keamari did not fall under his jurisdiction. The Seaview is being looked after by the Defence Housing Authority whereas Manora falls under the jurisdiction of Navy and Keamari under the Karachi Port Trust.

The picnic point of Seaview starts from old casino to Do Darya. There is no picnic point along the beach portion between Rehri Goth and Ibrahim Hyderi, mainly the fishermen-dominated area. Another picnic point is called Russian Beach which falls under the Port Qasim Authority.

The picnic points along the city beach being looked after by the ERC are Cape Montz, Neelam Point, Paradise Point, Kanupp Point, Golden Hut, Hawkesbay, Lalpeela Hut, Officers Hut, Y-Junction, Sandspit, Sonera, Mubarak Village and Old Clifton. The dangerous points where people should take extreme care are Cape Montz, Sonera, Mubarak Village, Neelam Point and Kanupp Point. The Sonera and Mubarak Village points are closed in high-tide season.