The watery death toll of our rivers

10 August: Bhutan’s rapid rivers have been responsible for snatching at least 15 lives every year since 2002, with very slim chances of recovering the bodies.

The past seven months alone saw about 15 deaths from drowning. The highest number was reported in 2007 with 32 cases and the lowest in 2002 and 2006 with 15 cases.

Last week, the search team in Tsimalakha, while looking for bodies of the seven boys washed away by the Wangchu on July 27, found the decomposed remains of two females. These unclaimed bodies are a clear indication that there are unreported cases as well.

Reported cases with police show that drowning occurs while swimming, washing clothes, collecting driftwood or scraps and fishing. “There are also instances of epileptic patients and drunkards falling into rivers,” said the police spokesperson.

The country also has reported cases of suicides from jumping into rivers. However, no proper records of bodies recovered have been maintained by either the police or any other agency.

When a body is recovered, police say that they check with all police stations across the country of any missing reports matching the description of the body. When a body remains unidentified, it is kept in mortuaries for further identification after issuing a public notification.

The court finally issues an order and authorises the municipal authorities to dispose of the body if no one comes forward.

After a drowning case is reported, bodies are searched for more than two weeks. “The search is given up only when all hope of recovering the body is exhausted, said the police spokesperson. “Some bodies are never recovered, in spite of every effort, due to the terrain and also because most rivers in Bhutan are fast flowing and strewn with huge boulders. If they are trapped or wedged under water between boulders, the possibility of finding them is even lesser,” said the police spokesperson.

The executive secretary of Thimphu city corporation, Phuntsho Gyeltshen, said that they have no records of handling recovered bodies to date. “Bodies are handed over to us when the conditions have worsened. And we cremate those unclaimed and unidentified bodies.”

There are 14 rivers flowing in Bhutan, with major rivers basins like Amo chhu, Wangchhu, Punatshangchhu and Drangmechhu (Manas). There are three hydropower dams in Tala, Chukha and Mongar.

Many rivers and streams across the country are believed to be dreychhu (evil waters) that rise or drop its level unpredictably. That results in numerous drowning, said elderly people.

A hydropower engineer said that the chances of recovering bodies trapped in dams are less as they could pass underneath the river. “Only if the gates are closed and the river inflow is slow, like during winters, is it possible,” he said, adding that drowning incidents mostly occur in summers when the river’s water level is always high.

China has the highest drowning cases, with WHO estimating more than 112,000 deaths each year. Less about 50 percent are children below 15 years. In the US, fatal drowning remains the second-leading cause of unintentional injury-related death for children between 1 to 14 years.

source: kuensel