Pics: Rons Bantwal
Media Release
Mumbai, July 29: No 1 Maharashtra Unit NCC, Mumbai had been tasked to conduct the Scuba Diving Camp 2014-15 at Command Swimming Pool of the Western Naval Command, Mumbai for the cadets representing all the seven Groups of Maharashtra Directorate. They are Mumbai ‘A’ and ‘B’ Group, Pune Group, Amravati Group, Kolhapur Group, Nagpur Group and Aurangabad Group. This camp includes cadets from Navy, Army and Air Wing from various parts of Maharashtra.
Western Naval Command has extended all facilities for conducting this camp at the Command Swimming pool located in Navy Nagar, Colaba. The Command Clearance Diving Team (Mumbai) has provided Diving equipment and Diving instructors to conduct the camp in both theory and practical classes on Diving. The camp was conducted from 06 Jul to 12 Jul 2014 which included swimming, medical and physical fitness tests. A total of 50 Cadets – 18 Girls and 32 Boys participated in screening and selection, out of which 30 cadets – 10 Girls and 20 Boys were selected for phase II training (which includes the actual exposure to SCUBA Diving).
The main objectives of the camp are :-
(a) To expose NCC cadets to SCUBA Diving and Survival at Sea
(b) To build confidence amongst participants to voluntarily undertake waterborne rescue operations like flood relief, natural calamities etc when need arises.
(c) To inculcate the spirit of adventure, camaraderie, character building, team work and ability to willingly face adverse conditions & hardships together.
(d) To enjoy underwater flora and fauna.
(e) To expose cadets to take up diving as a career option.
Keeping the above objectives in mind, the cadets were given intensive training in theory and practical classes on diving, swimming with fins, snorkeling, 5 meters board jumps and underwater diving wearing diving sets. To improve physical fitness, intensive physical workouts were carried out in Kohli Stadium which is co-located to the swimming pool prior to diving. Various lectures on health and hygiene, first air (drowning) and disaster management were also undertaken by experts on the subject.