Midnapore, Aug. 16: Alarmed by the increasing number of deaths among bathers on Digha beaches, authorities there have begun a survey to identify safe stretches, if any, with the help of Jadavpur University.

Two teenage tourists drowned in the sea on Independence Day, prompting the authorities to ask the experts at work to expedite the study.

Forty-six people, most of them tourists, have been dragged into the sea by an undercurrent since 2003.

The latest victims are 15-year-old Nurul Mustafa and Sheikh Shahbaz, who was 16.

Police said Nurul, a resident of Calcutta’s Taltala Lane, had gone to Digha with two friends. A Class VIII student of Model School in central Calcutta, he went to bathe at Khanika Ghat in New Digha around 3 pm yesterday. His body was found today.

Shahbaz of Tikiapara in Howrah, who went to Digha with 12 friends, went to the same ghat for a splash a little before 3 pm. His body was found in the evening.

Another tourist, Nakul Goswami, 46, from Panskura in East Midnapore, was injured when he got caught in the current, lost his balance and fell.

Oceanographer and chairman of the Digha-Shankarpur Development Authority Anandadeb Mukhopadhyay said the undercurrent is high at all existing bathing beaches at Old and New Digha. “So, we are trying to identify new and safe beaches,” he said.

“The JU team has been told to expedite the survey. We expect a report in three months,” Mukhopadhyay added.

The undercurrent is difficult to negotiate. “The sand moves rapidly from under the feet, the bather loses balance and is swept away,” the oceanographer said.

There is no bar on bathing in any of the Digha beaches, though none of them is totally safe. “It is very important for us to find out the safe beaches. The number of deaths by drowning is increasing every year. This may in the future cause panic among tourists,” Mukhopadhyay said.

The development authority, its chairman said, is also thinking of forming a team of trained divers to keep an eye on bathers.