KARACHI: “It’s not just stopping the people from going to the beaches, its putting on hold various livelihoods,” said Abdul Azizi, a shopkeeper at the Sandspit beach on Thursday.

“See, most of the residents of this area are fishermen. And during the monsoon months when they can’t go out to sea to catch fish, they do odd jobs like work as food vendors, as hut guards, as lifeguards, etc.

“Then when the beaches are full of picnickers and the huts are rented out, the people who come here bring lots of food with them, too, which they also offer to the hut guards. To care for them private companies hire more lifeguards. The bottles and stuff left behind by the picnickers are collected and sold by the children. So many ways of earning get affected if you just shut the beaches altogether,” the shopkeeper added.

Blog: The sea is not for the poor

A full cold drink delivery truck passed by just then, not caring to slow down or stop to pick up the empty bottle crates or make fresh deliveries. “We don’t need to replenish our stocks as often as we used to. I have lost around Rs120,000 of business since Eidul Fitr when picnickers drowned of the Seaview and Clifton beaches. Now when the stuff at my shop doesn’t sell, which is often the case, my family and I just eat it ourselves. The other choice would be letting it spoil or go to waste,” he said.

Baba Kabir, a resident of Kakapir village, said that the entire problem of closing the beaches started after the mass drownings at Seaview and Clifton last Eid. “I don’t think that the problem can be solved by closing the beaches. But more lifeguards can be a solution,” he said.

“All these huts pay taxes. Then more money can be collected at the chungi or entrance points. Take money per head and people will have no objection to that but use that money to hire more lifeguards and give them more facilities,” he added.

“In fact, there is no dedicated government lifeguards department here. There are the Aman Pal lifeguards, of course, but they are private lifeguards. And the KMC lifeguards are actually fire department employees doing lifeguards’ duty at the beach. They are not enough anyway and lack facilities. They don’t even have ambulances here!” he said.

“Right now the more determined picnickers who want to go to the beach get there anyway by bribing their way through, so only more lifeguards can help save lives, not closing the beaches.”

Shuja Khan, a guard at one of the huts at Hawkesbay, said that the three days of Eidul Azha were terrible for the owner of huts. “They just couldn’t come here. My sahib and his family wanted to come here and invite some friends over for a barbecue, but the police blocked the entrance points up ahead and they just couldn’t reach here,” he said.

“And yet those with sources or money to throw away paid their way to the beach. The coasters too came as some paid Rs1,000, some Rs500 as bribes to the police but those who tried talking sense into the law officials that they owned property here and had a right to come were shooed away,” he said.

“The monsoon months are over. And, anyway, this area is full of fishermen. The drowning incident happened at Seaview and Clifton, not here. Here the fishermen would jump in after anyone in trouble.”

Up ahead three tired and perspiring policemen under a thatched roof tried discouraging people from going into the water even if they went to the beach. “Handling the people after Eid is easier as very few people come here during weekdays but we needed reinforcements to stop the crowds from coming here during the past three days,” said the senior of the two officers.

When reminded that a ban was imposed on going into the water and not going to the beach, the policeman smiled. “Yes, true. But tell us, if we let them go to the beach, who’s to stop them from getting into the water from there? So it is better to prevent that from happening by stopping them up ahead,” he reasoned.

And how come some still got through? “No, Bibi, no. They are only government vehicles which we let pass. No one else is allowed,” he said.

At the Seaview beach, teenage cousins Abida and Sana watched the ebbing tides from the footpath with their families. “We are from Tando Adam. We came to see the sea but weren’t allowed to come here during the three Eid days. Today, the DHA vigilance guards allowed us to come this far at least. Otherwise, we would have gone to the zoo like we did yesterday,” said Abida.

“Your sea doesn’t look that dangerous to me,” said her cousin Sana.

Younus Arshad, also at the beach, said he was visiting from Rawalpindi. “My family,” he pointed to around a dozen people behind him, “and I came to Karachi to attend a family wedding. Now we are going back tomorrow. It would have been nice if we had been allowed to at least wet our feet in the tides but the DHA guard under that umbrella,” he pointed to a man in grey and blue with a red beret, “says he is watching us.”

Meanwhile, a poppadom seller, photographer and cold juice seller, quickly tried selling them their stuff.

“I only have Rs600 or Rs700 worth of stuff to sell. I can’t afford to pay a bribe of Rs200 each to these people stopping me from doing some business at the beach every day,” said poppadom seller Mohammad Bux who said he came here every day from Shireen Jinnah Colony.

“I didn’t push the people who drowned here. What am I being punished for?” said Mohammad Shabbir, a photographer and dune buggy owner. “My buggy has been parked at home for months now,” he said.

“We haven’t been stopped by the police from coming to the beach. We are stopped by the DHA vigilance people though they are allowing us to go sell at Do Darya, but the picnickers don’t go that far at this time, so who will we sell to there? Therefore, we come here and make some quick sales while the vigilance teams have gone off for lunch. Here, have some,” said Mohammad Zamir, a juice seller, while bringing out a cold juice box from his orange cooler.

Published in Dawn, October 10th, 2014