On the eve of India’s 80th Independence Day, Kolkata, a city renowned for its culture, compassion, and long history of public action, made a strong call for freedom: freedom from preventable drowning deaths.

The Child in Need Institute (CINI) organized a street-corner play and hands-on CPR demonstration at a public area next to the historic New Market in central Kolkata. The program illustrated how awareness, safe rescue, timely CPR, and prompt medical referral can save lives during drowning emergencies through live demonstrations and theater.

Kolkata has always used its public areas and streets as forums for social change, movements, and ideas. The city’s center was transformed into an open classroom for life-saving information. By bringing national policy directly to the public, the program conveyed important messages in line with the Government of India’s Strategic Framework for Drowning Prevention.

More than 8,000 people in West Bengal have received CPR and drowning response training from CINI with the strategic and technical assistance of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), a world leader in lifesaving and drowning prevention. As a result, there is an increasing number of skilled frontline employees and community responders who can act in the crucial initial moments of an emergency.

“Giving every child the freedom to develop, flourish, and return home safely is essential to true independence.” Let’s commit this Independence Day to assist the government in creating an India free from drowning and other avoidable child deaths. For every child, a Viksit Bharat must also be a Surakshit Bharat,” said Sujoy Roy, Lead-Injury Prevention & National Advocacy, CINI.

As part of the Har Ghar Tiranga campaign, participants reverently carried the National Flag, and the public joined the awareness campaign and snapped pictures with the Tiranga. The convergence of street theater, patriotism, and life-saving education brought drowning to light as a pressing but frequently disregarded public health issue.

The event was a component of CINI’s month-long World Drowning Prevention Day campaign “Unite to Turn the Tide”. Drowning prevention cannot be limited to conferences and technical discussions, according to CINI. In order for common people to play a crucial role in the survival chain, practical knowledge must be disseminated to markets, schools, neighborhoods, and vulnerable communities.

The message was crystal clear from the heart of Kolkata: let’s celebrate freedom this Independence Day and cooperate to create an India free from avoidable drowning.

Priyanka Dutta