In a strategic move to establish Odisha as a safe and premier destination for adventure tourism, the state government has launched a comprehensive residential lifeguard training program at the Odisha State Watermanship and Lifeguard Institute (OSWALI) in Konark.
The first batch got started today, marking the start of an intensive capacity-building exercise designed to strengthen the state’s water-based tourism and safety infrastructure.
So here’s how it works: there are 11 back-to-back batches, and each group goes through a 12-day training, all packed into about six weeks. Currently, they’re training 176 lifeguards, and not just from government jobs—people from private sectors too. They’re covering things like advanced rescue skills, CPR and first aid, how to handle themselves in open water, tackling disasters, and making sure everyone sticks to international watersport safety rules. The whole idea is to make sure tourists are in safe hands.
The Department of Tourism set up partnerships earlier this year, signing agreements with the National Institute of Water Sports (NIWS) in Goa and the Odisha Fire & Emergency Services (OFES). With these collaborations, they’re bringing in expert advice and national certification so that Odisha’s watersports safety standards aren’t just good—they’re right up there with the best in India.
The plan stretches way beyond this first batch. Over the next two to three years, the state wants to train around 2,000 lifeguards. To support this, the government has already completed a scientific mapping of waterbodies across all 30 districts, identifying usable lengths for tourism activities. Now, they’re lining up groups of interested young people from every district to start training, so when it comes time to assign lifeguards to beaches, rivers, lakes, and dams, there’s a pipeline ready to go.
Those who make it through the current program will get posted at major tourist hotspots like Puri and Chandrabhaga. By running these batches one after another, Odisha hopes to quickly ramp up its safety setup, making sure the most popular spots have trained lifeguards before the tourist rush really kicks in.