ISLAMABAD, Nov 29: Lack of proper life safety arrangements at an otherwise scenic picnic spot on the backside of Rawal Dam poses a serious threat to the life of the picnickers.

The area commonly known as “Green Woods” is the most attractive spot that people love to throng on holidays, especially during Eid days. The site is also famous for the old Murree Road that is lying submerged in the dam water.

Boating is the most alluring item on the dam premises and despite exorbitant tickets, people love to enjoy a short ride over the rippling waters of the dam. Excited fun-lovers could be seen waiting impatiently in long queues for their turn with majority of them alien to swimming.

Ironically, the authorities concerned have allowed boating but ensured no precautionary measures like provision of life jackets to the picnickers despite the fact that the dam is notorious for taking many precious lives in the past.

Except for calling out the expert divers of Pakistan Navy to deal with an emergency, no standard safety procedure is available here. “We cannot afford providing safety jackets to the picnickers but we do take precautionary measures to avoid tragic incidents by not allowing more than six or seven passengers, though our boats can carry ten people,” Mr Basharat, a boatman, told this reporter.

Mr Basharat, an ex-sailor of Pakistan Navy and also a rowing champion with many gold medals under his belt, said they always sailed in shallow waters and kept on advising the people against moving their bodies and putting their hands in waters to prevent any mishap.

There are many places in the dam close to the spillways where the water is sometimes as deep as 200 feet, he said, admitting that though majority of the boatmen could swim, they were not trained enough to protect the life of the passengers in the event of any emergency. He said majority of the boatmen live in adjacent Banni Gala.

Interestingly, all the eight boats are powered by diesel engine motors despite the fact that only oars are allowed to avoid contamination of the dam water because the dam not only serves as a drinking water reservoir for the residents of Rawalpindi but also as a sanctuary for fish and a breeding ground for migrating Siberian birds.

The dam comes under the administrative control of the Punjab Small Dams, which has installed a picket in the area to discourage poaching and swimming. But pathetically, no official is manning this picket.

Interestingly, the owner of the nearby restaurant had in the past prominently displayed a list of those drowned while swimming in the dam but it failed to discourage the adventurists.