Lifeguards Save 199 On Vizag Beaches Since 2023
Bheemili Beach has reported 15 deaths, Rushikonda and Yarada 10 each, and Fishing Harbour beach 12 deaths between 2021 and 2025: Reports
VISAKHAPATNAM: Lifeguards at various beaches along Visakhapatnam's coastline have rescued 199 people from drowning since 2023, while 165 persons have died between 2021 and 2025 after they entered the sea at these beaches.
There are 47 lifeguards working under the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) since December 2022, keeping an eye over key beaches from Coastal Battery to Bhimili, apart from Yarada, Appikonda, Meghadrigedda and Mudassar. Since their appointment, lifeguards have saved 63 people in 2023, 65 in 2024 and 71 so far in 2025.
The highest drowning incidents have been reported at R.K. Beach, which emerged as the deadliest location with 42 deaths over the past five years; 10 fatalities in 2021, 14 in 2022, six in 2023, seven in 2024, and five thus far in 2025.
Bheemili Beach has reported 15 deaths, Rushikonda and Yarada 10 each, and Fishing Harbour beach 12 deaths between 2021 and 2025.
The overall trend shows deaths peaked in 2022 with 46 fatalities, followed by 35 in 2021, 33 in 2023, 27 in 2024, and 24 in 2025 so far.
Recently, on October 5, 2025, 16 Russian tourists bathing at Yarada Beach got caught in rip currents. Lifeguards pulled out all of them. Three of them had almost drowned. Lifeguards performed CPR on them. Two survived but one died.
Earlier, on September 21, 2024, five Italian tourists at the same beach got swept away by rip waves. Lifeguards saved all of them.
K. Latha Madhuri, an oceanography professor at a private college, explained the hidden dangers while people are enjoying themselves on a beach. She says, "A rip current is a powerful, narrow stream of water that pulls away from the beach. It's often hard to see with the naked eye.”
Latha Madhuri pointed out that along beaches of Visakhapatnam, these currents can move as fast as five to eight kilometres per hour, usually between 50 and 150 feet from the shore. Swimmers might think they are in safe water. But suddenly, a strong force would start dragging them out to sea faster than they could react.The professor pointed out that when the tide is low, many people think it is safer because the water is less. But the power to pull into the sea is much stronger at these times.
