NAROWAL: Two youths and a boy drowned in the Upper Chenab Canal on Monday in separate incidents, while the deceased boy’s young sister, who was saved from drowning by locals, was said to be in a critical condition.

A spokesman for Sialkot Rescue 1122 says that responding to a call that two youths are feared to have drowned while swimming in the Upper Chenab Canal, rescuers teams rushed to the spot.

He says quoting locals that Hamza Ali (23), a resident of Imam Sahib area of Sialkot and Burhan Ali (22) of Muzaffarpur disappeared in the deep water while swimming in the canal.

He says that the divers of Rescue 1122 launched an operation in the canal to search the youths.

Young girl critical after being saved from drowning

He says that after three-hour long efforts, the divers retrieved the bodies of both youths from the canal and handed these over to the families of the deceased after completing legal formalities.

In another incident occurring near Bassiwala village in Pasrur tehsil Ahmar (14) and his sister Alishba (16) were plying near Upper Chenab Canal when they slipped and fell into deep water. Rescue 1122 divers were called to the spot, but locals had taken the siblings out from the canal before the rescuers reached there.

The rescuers performed CPR to revive the siblings. As a result, Alishba started breathing again, while her brother could not survive. The girl was shifted to hospital where she was said to be critical. These incidents shows that despite a ban imposed on swimming in rivers, canals and lakes by the Punjab government under section 144, people continue to indulge in such activities to cool off due to the ongoing heatwave in the province.

A local, Akhtar Hussain, said that despite the ban, young people are seen swimming in rivers and canals in Sialkot district, deploring poor enforcement of section 144.

He says that every year several persons drown while swimming in canals and river in the district, demanding effective enforcement of the ban.

As per District Emergency Officer of Rescue 1122 Engineer Naveed Iqbal, last year 21 persons drowned in Sialkot district.

He said it is responsibility of police to implement Section 144, while Rescue 1122 teams on motorcycles also patrol along rivers and canals to save people from drowning.

DPO Faisal Shahzad told Dawn that police are taking strict action against those violating Section 144, adding that the police have so far arrested 76 people for violating the ban in Sambrial, Daska, Pasrur and Sialkot tehsils, registering 50 FIRs at various police stations.

Published in Dawn, June 10th, 2025