Delhi’s other Boat Club: The lifeguards of Yamuna
NEWDELHI: Tracing a 22-km through the national capital, the Yamuna often comes across as an innocuous river — still, dark, sometimes frothy, and almost always stinking. But in these waters lie a danger that every year leads to around 300 emergency calls. And on the other side of the line is a man called Harish Kumar, who leads a crack team of 30 divers who are Delhi’s official lifeguards.
“We love the monsoons; it is the only time when the Yamuna actually looks like a river, when we feel like the men of the river,” says Kumar, in-charge of the
Boat Club, a Delhi government agency that responds to all emergencies on the river.
In seasons such as now, Kumar and his men patrol river on a regular basis as the river swells and catches careless bathers unaware. “For most people, Boat Club is a recreational boat ride venue at India Gate. They do not know who we are and what we do,” says Kumar, whose sprawling office in Civil Lines has a short mud path sloping down to the river.
The divers of Boat Club are currently stationed at seven points along the portion of the Yamuna that flows in Delhi.
Always on call like any other emergency service, they are the first responders when anyone is reported to have fallen into the river, deliberately or by accident.
Often, though, they dive for bodies of suicide and murder victims. “Fishing out dead bodies is not about how well you swim, it is about how you feel your way around; it is about being mentally strong. There is a difference between a good swimmer and a diver,” says Naeem, a diver with the Boat Club for nine years.