Will lifeguard service on Cox’s Bazar beach be thrown a lifeline as funding runs out?

For over a decade, lifeguards in red and yellow uniforms have patrolled the popular Cox’s Bazar beach, rescuing hundreds of tourists swept away by powerful currents. But the service may be halted this month as funding dries up, sparking fears of more drownings on the world’s longest sea beach. The “Sea Safe Lifeguard” project began in 2012 and was later funded by the UK’s Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI). Since then, 27 trained guards have worked in shifts across the 120km beach. Over the past 10 years, they have saved 807 lives and recorded 65 deaths. In the last year alone, 11 people drowned and 78 were rescued. Project field manager Imtiaz Ahmed said the programme officially expired in December...