At the "Peretiah" beach in the Braslav district, rescuers identified a number of serious deficiencies.

In the height of summer, rescuers and other entities authorized to monitor the safety of people on the water keep a close watch on both unregulated swimming areas and official beaches, their equipment and functioning. Typically, regular monitoring reveals significant deficiencies and exposes weak points. Where there is no proper order, tragedy is not far away.

Last week, the Braslav Department of the Ministry of Emergency Situations conducted a repeated inspection of the beach, perhaps the most popular tourist stop in the National Park "Braslav Lakes" - "Peretjag". During the inspection, it was established that previously proposed measures to eliminate deficiencies (deadline 10 days) had been partially implemented. According to the Deputy Head of the Department, Vladimir Opechyonok, buoys to mark the swimming area have been installed, but at the location of the pier, where the excursion boat docks, there are no warning signs prohibiting swimming. Furthermore, the departmental rescue post is not fully equipped with the required documentation. In particular, there is no daily schedule for the departmental post, instructions for watch monitoring, rescue and fire alarms. At the time of monitoring, there was only one set No. 1 (fins, mask, snorkel) and one "end of Alexandrov" instead of the necessary three of each item.

At the same time, a number of remarks were completely unaddressed at the time of inspection.

– For example, the stand installed at the beach does not contain the necessary information, – clarifies V. Opechyonok. – It lacks an excerpt from the rules for the protection of human life on the water, recommendations for vacationers regarding swimming procedures, information on rescue techniques and first aid for the injured, a map of the beach area and water with indications of depths and dangerous places, and a list of phone numbers for the rescue station, ambulance, nearest healthcare organization, and police. Currently, the duty shift consists of 1 person, while the minimum number of duty personnel should be 2 per shift.

The schedule of the post (which also serves as a rental point for equipment and firewood sales) is drawn up with gross violations: it operates from 10 AM to 7 PM, but Monday and Tuesday are days off – meaning swimming is not allowed at all on those days. Moreover, the rescue post is equipped with a rowing boat, although due to the criteria of complexity and volume of work, it was suggested to equip it with a motorboat. Thus, it turns out that on paper there is an equipped beach, but in reality, people swim in an unregulated area, and one rescuer simply cannot physically keep track of everyone, and there is no information on where, what, and how to swim safely.

Additionally, to prevent drowning incidents on the water at all tourist stops and places of mass gathering (recreation) of citizens located near water bodies (on the shores of lakes and rivers), it is recommended that the environmental protection agency install informational signs warning against swimming.

In this context, the National Park should heed the remarks of the rescuers, as the safety of people is at stake.