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Photos| Delhi Boat Club: The daredevils patrolling the Yamuna

Boat Club – not to be confused with Boat Club at India Gate – is a little-known Delhi government agency responsible for searching and rescuing people who fall in the Yamuna, deliberately or by accident. Its divers are on call 24x7, either patrolling the river during the current flood-like situation or ready for action at first notice of any incident in the river’s waters. Most often they retrieve bodies trapped in canals, drains and rivulets and also help the police in retrievals. Set up in 1965, the Boat Club gets about 300 distress calls a year.

Updated on: Aug 08, 2018 11:08 AM IST

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Harish Kumar had just returned from the river, a mini-loudspeaker in hand, after a two-hour patrol, warning people to stay away from the swelling Yamuna, when his phone rang. The caller was a policeman who told him that a man was suspected to have drowned near Sonia Vihar in northeast Delhi. Kumar urgently took down the address and instructed his team of divers stationed not far away from the site to rush. (Raj K Raj / HT Photo)

Updated on Aug 08, 2018 11:08 AM

Harish Kumar had just returned from the river, a mini-loudspeaker in hand, after a two-hour patrol, warning people to stay away from the swelling Yamuna, when his phone rang. The caller was a policeman who told him that a man was suspected to have drowned near Sonia Vihar in northeast Delhi. Kumar urgently took down the address and instructed his team of divers stationed not far away from the site to rush. (Raj K Raj / HT Photo)

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Kumar (pictured) is in charge of Boat Club – a little-known Delhi government agency responsible for searching and rescuing people who fall in the Yamuna. Its divers patrol the river during the current flood-like situation and retrieve bodies trapped in canals, drains and rivulets. Set up in 1965, the Boat Club gets about 300 distress calls a year. (Raj K Raj / HT Photo)

Updated on Aug 08, 2018 11:08 AM

Kumar (pictured) is in charge of Boat Club – a little-known Delhi government agency responsible for searching and rescuing people who fall in the Yamuna. Its divers patrol the river during the current flood-like situation and retrieve bodies trapped in canals, drains and rivulets. Set up in 1965, the Boat Club gets about 300 distress calls a year. (Raj K Raj / HT Photo)

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For most, Boat Club is a recreational venue at India Gate, Kumar says. This separate entity is located in Civil Lines. A year-wise chart of the drowned and rescued people; a model boat and pictures of the team during rescue operations fill Kumar’s office. Its high-ceiling rooms are filled with boat engines, plastic ropes, life jackets, lifebuoys and dragon lights, among other equipment. (Raj K Raj / HT Photo)

Updated on Aug 08, 2018 11:08 AM

For most, Boat Club is a recreational venue at India Gate, Kumar says. This separate entity is located in Civil Lines. A year-wise chart of the drowned and rescued people; a model boat and pictures of the team during rescue operations fill Kumar’s office. Its high-ceiling rooms are filled with boat engines, plastic ropes, life jackets, lifebuoys and dragon lights, among other equipment. (Raj K Raj / HT Photo)

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With the Yamuna in spate these days, Kumar and his 30 divers are busy. They are stationed at seven points along the river, ready to dive into its deep, fast-flowing waters whenever someone goes under. Just recently, they had rescued 15 persons in Burari who were trapped in the Yamuna after they did not heed a warning and failed to vacate huts on the banks. (Raj K Raj / HT Photo)

Updated on Aug 08, 2018 11:08 AM

With the Yamuna in spate these days, Kumar and his 30 divers are busy. They are stationed at seven points along the river, ready to dive into its deep, fast-flowing waters whenever someone goes under. Just recently, they had rescued 15 persons in Burari who were trapped in the Yamuna after they did not heed a warning and failed to vacate huts on the banks. (Raj K Raj / HT Photo)

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Quite often, the divers dive for bodies — a job involving danger, action and drama. On an average, they fish out 100-125 bodies in a year–not just drowning cases but also murder victims and those who commit suicide. 26-year-old Naeem (L), a diver who claims to have found 150 bodies in his nine years with the Boat Club, says it is not a job for the faint-hearted. (Raj K Raj / HT Photo)

Updated on Aug 08, 2018 11:08 AM

Quite often, the divers dive for bodies — a job involving danger, action and drama. On an average, they fish out 100-125 bodies in a year–not just drowning cases but also murder victims and those who commit suicide. 26-year-old Naeem (L), a diver who claims to have found 150 bodies in his nine years with the Boat Club, says it is not a job for the faint-hearted. (Raj K Raj / HT Photo)

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Kumar says the number of distress calls to the club has increased over the years mainly because of the rising number of illegal colonies along the Yamuna. “Till the late 1980s, we got only about 20 calls a year. In 2013, we got over 650 calls. The problem is that people in these colonies use the river banks as a picnic spot; they get drunk, then have a bath, which is very risky,” he says. (Raj K Raj / HT Photo)

Updated on Aug 08, 2018 11:08 AM

Kumar says the number of distress calls to the club has increased over the years mainly because of the rising number of illegal colonies along the Yamuna. “Till the late 1980s, we got only about 20 calls a year. In 2013, we got over 650 calls. The problem is that people in these colonies use the river banks as a picnic spot; they get drunk, then have a bath, which is very risky,” he says. (Raj K Raj / HT Photo)

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Divers Javed (L), Naeem (C) and Intzaar at Delhi Boat Club in New Delhi. The men are on call 24X7, which means they have to rush out even in the dead of night—sometimes in their jeep with boats hitched to it. Most of the divers are from Jagatpur, a riverside village upstream of Wazirabad. “The water in our village is relatively cleaner and we grew up swimming. So, we take to our jobs like ducks to water,” says Naeem. (Raj K Raj / HT Photo)

Updated on Aug 08, 2018 11:08 AM

Divers Javed (L), Naeem (C) and Intzaar at Delhi Boat Club in New Delhi. The men are on call 24X7, which means they have to rush out even in the dead of night—sometimes in their jeep with boats hitched to it. Most of the divers are from Jagatpur, a riverside village upstream of Wazirabad. “The water in our village is relatively cleaner and we grew up swimming. So, we take to our jobs like ducks to water,” says Naeem. (Raj K Raj / HT Photo)

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“it is just a job. Perhaps, it is also a morbid adventure, but a dangerous one: you never know what awaits you under water — a crevice or a pit or a snake,” says Intzaar. Sometimes police ask them to search for murder victims but bodies are never found where the accused say they threw them, “When we try to pull them out, the limbs come off and we have to dive again to get those out.” Intzaar adds. (Raj K Raj / HT Photo)

Updated on Aug 08, 2018 11:08 AM

“it is just a job. Perhaps, it is also a morbid adventure, but a dangerous one: you never know what awaits you under water — a crevice or a pit or a snake,” says Intzaar. Sometimes police ask them to search for murder victims but bodies are never found where the accused say they threw them, “When we try to pull them out, the limbs come off and we have to dive again to get those out.” Intzaar adds. (Raj K Raj / HT Photo)

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Pollution make the job all the more challenging. Body rashes, eye infections, insect bites and nosebleeds are common complaints from the Yamuna’s waste and chemical laden water. Last year, the club conducted one of its most difficult operations when a part of the Ghazipur landfill collapsed, sweeping several people into a canal. Two people were killed. “We were all dripping thick black filth as we brought out the bodies,” Javed says. (Raj K Raj / HT Photo)

Updated on Aug 08, 2018 11:08 AM

Pollution make the job all the more challenging. Body rashes, eye infections, insect bites and nosebleeds are common complaints from the Yamuna’s waste and chemical laden water. Last year, the club conducted one of its most difficult operations when a part of the Ghazipur landfill collapsed, sweeping several people into a canal. Two people were killed. “We were all dripping thick black filth as we brought out the bodies,” Javed says. (Raj K Raj / HT Photo)

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Harish Kumar and the Boat Club’s divers in the Yamuna. The Boat Club, the only agency in Delhi that specialises in search and rescue in water, is an important part of disaster management in the city,” says Ajay Kumar, ADM, East, and Shahdara district. “In Delhi, no one knows the Yamuna quite like them.” (Raj K Raj / HT Photo)

Updated on Aug 08, 2018 11:08 AM

Harish Kumar and the Boat Club’s divers in the Yamuna. The Boat Club, the only agency in Delhi that specialises in search and rescue in water, is an important part of disaster management in the city,” says Ajay Kumar, ADM, East, and Shahdara district. “In Delhi, no one knows the Yamuna quite like them.” (Raj K Raj / HT Photo)

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