It is a drama which caused a kind of electric shock. The fatal drowning of a 16-year-old girl in Coufouleux, while she was paddleboarding, on July 7 on the Tarn river. Three mayors of the sector (Saint-Sulpice, Rabastens, Coufouleux) have just decided to harmonize the rules governing swimming in their respective territories, to underline the danger posed by bathing in this waterway.
Bathing prohibited outside regulated areas
In the municipality of Rabastens, a large “beach” was set up at the beginning of the year for swimmers. This summer, a lifeguard is present to monitor the area. The neighboring mayor of Coufouleux, Olivier Damez, explains what has changed with the prefectural decrees: “There will be about 2000 meters along the Tarn on which swimming has been prohibited. We have asked the Gendarmerie to also monitor. Above all, we have ordered signs indicating that swimming is prohibited in these places. .”
The chosen one also launches an appeal to young people, he expects more individual responsibility : “We really have to take security. We still have many, many young people who have bathed along the electricity plants which are near the Rabastens bridge. It is not possible and we cannot be there all the time. time, so stop!”he insists.
Places reserved for nautical activities on the Tarn river?
Nicolas Géraud, the mayor of Rabastens believes that he has done what is necessary for some years, but with the heat wave, “we cannot prevent people from going to bathe in places that even we, the elected officials, do not know”. So, the three mayors are hoping for a helping hand from the Tarn Prefecture: “We wanted, with the three municipalities, to send a letter to the prefecture so that we could somehow share the regulations. For swimming, it is the mayor who is responsible and who makes the decrees that are going well Everything related to aquatic and nautical activities is the responsibility of the prefecture Because aquatic activity must be standardized throughout the Tarn, including on paddle boards which are small beach boats etc. We must now be consistent“says the mayor of Rabastens.
A major communication campaign will in particular launch into these municipalities to raise awareness among the population, hoping, for the three mayors, that it will generalizes on all the communes bordered by the Tarn.