~ Drishti Marine’s presentation of Goa’s drowning prevention statistics at the World Conference on Drowning Prevention (WCDP) in Perth, Australia, spotlighted Goa as a pioneer in drowning prevention operations in India.
~ Drishti Marine’s AI-driven rescue interventions AURUS and TRITON, widespread lifesaver presence, rescue dog squad and other measures have resulted in a 99 per cent reduction in drownings in Goa.
Panaji, January 2024- Goa’s innovative beach safety initiatives such as trained rescue dogs, artificial intelligence (AI) bots and an efficient army of lifesavers were under the spotlight at the International Life Saving Federation’s World Conference on Drowning Prevention (WCDP) held recently at Perth in Australia.
According to Navin Awasthi, CEO, Drishti Marine, Goa is at the forefront of artificial intelligence (AI) implementation in drowning rescue operations in India with the deployment of AURUS, a self-driving robot and TRITON, the AI-powered monitoring system, putting the state at par with international lifesaving standards.
“The Government of Goa is the only governing body in India that is taking serious measures to mitigate drowning deaths by deploying professional 400-plus lifesavers on several beaches. Consequently, Drishti Marine’s elite drowning prevention modus operandi in Goa has resulted in a 99 per cent reduction in drownings,” stated Awasthi.
Hosted by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the United Nations (UN) and co-hosted by the Royal Life Saving Society – Australia (RLSS) and Surf Life Saving Australia (SLSA), WCDP 2023 gathered 750 experts from 50 countries in drowning prevention, lifesaving and water safety with the goal of ‘Shaping Global Strategy and Mobilising for Action’.
Rajiv Somani, Chairman, Drishti Group, Ankit Somani, Managing Director, Drishti Works and Navin Awasthi, CEO gave a presentation titled ‘Use of AI, Robotics and Dogs in Drowning Prevention on Beaches of Goa, India’ that highlighted the state-of-the-art technologies and initiatives that Drishti Marine utilises for its rescue operations in the coastal state.
“Our presentation at WCDP was extremely well received. Aside from the AI bots, there are also 35 beach towers and several jeeps and jet skis deployed to aid rescue operations. There have been 4,760-plus incidents and 7,000-plus rescues across Goa and Maharashtra where we operate since Drishti Marine started operations in Goa in 2008,” stated Awasthi.
TRITON issues real-time alerts in all weather to tourists, the beach tower and headquarters and is low maintenance. AURUS, a UGV (unmanned ground vehicle) robot, helps issue announcements, patrolling and surveillance duties, logistics, crowd control, beach closures, live monitoring and carries surfboards and lifesaving equipment. Both systems can monitor the surroundings, assess risks and share real-time information to help on-duty Lifesavers respond faster.
Drishti Marine’s ‘Paw Squad’, a team of trained dogs to aid lifesavers in rescue and beach safety operations, was also lauded by conference attendees.
“Our team of Lifesaver dogs, the ‘Paw Squad’, was well commended. A first-of-its-kind programme in Asia, the team of ten dogs are presently being trained to spot and rescue victims in distress, search and rescue in rocky areas and locate missing children. The Paw Squad will be deployed in 2024. Our initiative has hopefully set a global precedent,” said Awasthi.
Awasthi stated that key takeaways from the conference are the eventual implementation of air-inflated surfboards, drowning detection and prevention technologies like SightBIt and AngelEye and drones that can drop auto-inflate lifebuoys to make rescue operations more seamless across Goa and eventually across India.
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