Kolkata: Rowing stopped in Rabindra Sarobar for now – Times of India

KOLKATA: All rowing activities at Rabindra Sarobar have been suspended indefinitely, till a better mechanism for rowers’ safety is put in place in consultation with police and KMDA, representatives of rowing clubs decided on Tuesday.
They are waiting for further instruction on a better safety mechanism from Kolkata Police and KMDA, who will formulate a revised standard operating procedure at a meeting in Lalbazar to be chaired by the Kolkata police commissioner on Thursday. It will be followed by a second meeting by the club representatives. A decision on resumption of rowing activities at the Lake will be taken thereafter.
On Tuesday, representatives of Lake Club, Calcutta Rowing Club (CRC), Bengal Rowing Club (BRC) and West Bengal Rowing Association met at CRC to discuss the way forward after the tragic death of two young rowers who died when their rowing boat capsized during a squall on Saturday evening. The death of South Point High School students Pushan Sadhukhan (14) and Souryadeep Chattopadhyay (14) led to immediate suspension of all childrens’ rowing tournament at the Lake till issuance of fresh guidelines by the Kolkata Police commissioner.
Club authorities suggested going back to the rulebook to stress on safety, keeping a check on the weather before allowing rowing and reminding the trainees about basic standard operating procedure among other things efore resumption of any form of rowing activities at the lake. “We need to wait for fresh guidelines from the state but on Tuesday, we discussed how clubs can bolster safety for the trainees to avoid a repeat,” said Debu Datta, the joint secretary of Lake Club.
Before the start of the meeting, the club organizers held a condolence meet and wore black badges while keeping the club flag on half-mast. Among the possible measures discussed at the meeting were an immediate counselling of the trainees before resuming rowing activities and fresh training for students about the important SOPs in case of an emergency.
“The trainees will be reminded of not letting go of their rowing boats in case of an emergency, including a capsize. A rowing boat doesn’t sink and thus if they can simply stay afloat holding on to the handrails attached to the boat, they can be easily rescued. We also discussed deployment of dedicated rescuers on a permanent basis – be it during a regatta or a training session – to ensure quick rescue operations,” Datta added.
“All the clubs carry out a swimming test of the trainees before allowing them for rowing. However, now on more stress will be given to the results of the test and the way it is conducted. A second meeting will be called soon after the meeting with cops to find better mechanism for rower safety, till then rowing is suspended in the water by all clubs,” said Chandan Roy Chowdhury, the secretary of Calcutta Rowing Club.