[1]‘After the Kumarakom, Thattekkad and Thekkady boat tragedies, the state now will have to prepare itself to face yet another water mishap, if the government does not take an immediate action.’
This warning to the state home ministry has been issued by none other than the chief of intelligence wing of Kerala police. And, the location of the tragedy, which he foresees is no place other than Kochi.
The intelligence report on an imminent boat tragedy at Kochi was sent to the home ministry last week, on the backdrop of the bad conditions of passenger boats on Kochi backwater and sea.
The wing warns the government that it has to immediately intervene in the issue and gear up the security measures if it wants to avoid a major tragedy.
The intelligence wing says, if it happens, the gravity of the disaster would be so huge because of the presence of tourists in these boats.
“The passenger boats in Kochi have been operating without security measures. Most of the boats do not have security gadgets including life jackets.
The boats have also been carrying more number of passengers than it can carry, which may invite a tragedy any time soon,” the report said.
The report also points out that most of the boats here are more than 10 years old. The intelligence wing also whips the owners of passenger boats in Kochi for being highly profit minded.
“Most of the boats carry more than 50 passengers in all its services. The government should immediately act to bring down the tab on maximum number of passenger allowed in each service,” the report said.
The boats of Kerala State Water Transport Department (KSWTD) are also in very pathetic conditions, according to the report.
The state is set to hold an urgent meeting on the issue to discuss the measures to be taken to avert a tragedy.
Heads of KSWTD and Kerala State Inland Navigation Corporation (KSINC) are also expected to attend the meeting, the sources said.
Boat passengers least surprised over report
Intelligence wing’s warning to the state home ministry does not come as a surprise for the regular travelers on passenger boats in Ernakulam, for they have been witnessing the pathetic condition of the boats over a decade.
The voices raised by the passengers sadly had only fallen in deaf ears so far, however the commuters are content now as they hope the government would take action on the backdrop of intelligence report.
“We have been traveling in these passenger boats with our hearts in our mouths.
There are hardly any life jackets and security measures in these boats. We are forced to travel in these boats, as we don’t have any other option,” says Francis Chammany, the president of Vypeen-Fort Kochi ferry passengers’ association.
Chammany alleged that the Vypeen-Fort Kochi boat services are the worst in the sector. “There are two boats in this route. Both the boats are more than 30 years old.
However, only one of those boat is being operated these days, though the contractor’s agreement to the corporation was to deploy three junkars and three boats, including a spare each, at any given time,” he alleged.
According to the ferry passengers, the corporation has given strict directions to the contractor who had done nothing to solve the travelling woes, resulting in long queues of commuters and vehicles at both ends.
“The contractors who run boat services are highly profit-minded. The state government should immediately intervene in the issue and direct the contractors to repair the boats and provide life jackets for all the passengers,” said Ramesh Venugopal of Fort Kochi, a regular passenger.
Links:
[1] http://archive.asianage.com/boat-1jpgcropdisplayjpg-981