Rajkot to help UK beach goers keep social distance

Rajkot: Of all places where revellers can be accused of throwing every caution to the wind, the worst of examples are easily the chock-a-block beaches across the globe.
Along with the world, that is gasping from the onslaught of the coronavirus pandemic, authorities at the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP), a town that nurtures UK’s best beaches in south coast, too found the task of enforcing social distancing among beach surfers overwhelming. This was accentuated when more than two lakh visitors turned up on one day after lockdown eased.
The panic-stricken BCP Council, however, found succour when a Rajkot IT firm helped local authorities at the resort town with a mobile application that guides beach goers to maintain social distance.
Unveiled last week, the app will help revellers check beach’s congestion levels before they hit the sand. “This social distancing app is in response to last month’s chaos which can be avoided in future,” said Chintan Panara, promoter of the firm that has office in the UK and Netherlands.
After working in Britain for a decade, IT expert Panara had founded the firm with ex-Indian Army officer Arun Kar and Pradip Butani in 2014.
“BCP Beach Check app has a live traffic light system using the latest technology to help visitors and residents avoid busy hotspots. The simple-to-use app is free to download,” he said.
The app helps users check a particular beach or see a map indicating the busier areas (marked as red), less busy beaches (marked as amber) and those with plenty of available space (marked as green).
The app allows visitors to make informed choices as to which parts of the beach to visit and which to avoid in order to maintain social distance during the pandemic.“More than technology, it is the impact that we make on lives across the globe that matters the most,” said Panara.