More than 32 tourists on board a double-decker boat owned and operated by the Kerala Tourism Development Corporation were killed when it capsized in one of the deepest zones of the Mullaperiyar dam reservoir in Kerala’s Idukki district around 5 p.m. on Wednesday. The toll would possibly be higher, according to informed sources.
A rescue team had recovered 26 bodies till 8 p.m. Two persons were rescued alive.
The rescue operation was continuing late into the night. Four tourists who were rescued in a critical condition died later. There were five foreign tourists, of whom two died.
A total of 82 persons were travelling in the boat, named ‘Jala Kanyaka’; 60 of them belonged to one group from Karnataka. The boat left the jetty around 4 p.m. and capsized some 7 km away.
All the 60 persons from Karnataka had come in a tourist bus to Thekkady as part of their tour of Kerala. Preliminary investigation revealed that the accident took place when a large group of tourists on the upper deck rushed to one side of the boat to see animals spotted on the forest fringes. In the sudden movement, the boat overturned. All the 82 tourists in the boat were thrown into the water. Twenty persons, who were mostly on the upper deck of the boat were rescued by boats sent in by the KTDC, the Forest Department and the Tamil Nadu PWD.
The rescue operations were hampered by the spreading darkness and the distance of the accident spot from the boat landing centre. The area where the boat capsized was about 100 feet deep and the shore had wild animals such as elephants.
The helpline numbers are: Thiruvananthapuram Control Room – 0471-2331403; 0471-1331639 and 0471-2333198. Control Room, Kerala House, Delhi: 011-23342320; 011-30411500.
Keywords: accident, boat capsize, Thekkady, KTDC, V. S. Achuthanandan, navy
Though safety arrangements may not have been up to standards, the foolish act of people rushing to one side of the upper deck calls for some attitude change from the tourist themselves. No amount of safety measures would be effective without proper attitude towards safety. Vineesh's idea of seat belts and making it compulsory sounds like the most immediate and logical step to avert such accidents in the future.
My prayers for the departed souls. It is high time that the Kerala government enforce basic safety regulations. I am an NRI. Over the last year three of my western colleagues had been to Kerala for holidays. When they initially told me with a lot of excitement that they were going to Kerala, I was proud, but not when they came back with stories of risky roads, unregulated speeding traffic and waste and rubbish thrown out on the roads with no concept of recycling! And Kerala claims to have a high literacy rate.
This is just a few of the many accidents waiting to happen in Kerala, especially water-related tourism. Having taken a house boat trip this June with my family from the US in Kumarakom I am not surprised to hear about this accident. Before the boat moved, I made sure there were enough life vests for everyone on board and they had to borrow from another boat to meet my request. I also came to find out that these boat operators have no training in water and boat safety, even the very basics and I also learned that many of these guys don't even know how to swim. The tourist boating sector needs to fall under the Indian Coast Guard who can then implement safety protocols, hopefully without taking any bribes from these operators. There should also be a mandatory requirement for all passengers in these boats to WEAR life vests, especially people who cannot swim and children; they are a bit uncomfortable, but will at least save lives in the event of an accident. Many of these poor tourists most likely got on a boat for the first time in their life and had no clue about water safety; unless discipline is strictly enforced, people normally behave like sheep and it is the primary responsibility of the operator - the Kerala Tourist Board - to ensure that Kerala, GOD'S OWN COUNTRY" IS A SAFE PLACE FOR PEOPLE TO TAKE A VACATION.
Besides the basic safety arrangements, we also lack emergency response measures. There should always be some patrolling boats nearby to keep an eye and provide a link to onshore offices for emergency purposes.
It is a clear case of flouting of the safety norms. It was shocking to note that the safety jackets are not at all available and the boat is said be carrying more passengers than its normal capacity. Whether it is in cinema halls, school buses, school buildings, or boat accidents, safety norms are flouted resulting in the loss of lives. There is urgent need to enforce safety norms in such places.
I wish the all those who were in the boat had been given and made to wear life jackets when they boarded for the trip. I am sure it would have saved a lot of lives.
It is high time the matter of passenger security became paramount. Strict regulations need to be brought in and anyone flaunting it must receive a mandatory custodial sentence. In future, each person be given a certified flotation belt to save themselves from such tragedies. It is awful to see so many died in such a small boat accident! Unfortunately, many Indians do not learn to swim, in particular women. I am glad the Chief Minister is instituting an inquiry into the matter and we can only be hopeful that it will not be a 'eye wash' and there will be action taken to prevent such tragedies in future.
Most tragic thing to happen in Kerala tourism. Let the department take serious note of the mishap and see how to avoid such things in future. Were the tourists supplied life jackets? Why could not such unfortunate happenings be anticipated by the tourism dept of the Kerala Government? I don't know why the Government of India tourism department is not taking precautions just like in America and other western countries. May god be with the kith and kin of the drowned people and comfort them.
To search YSR helicopter they got in every possible thing in the world, now to attend to the tragedies like this, the rescuers travel by road. How in the world do they expect the drowned people to be live after 4 hours?
This is such a huge tragedy. Sympathies to the close and family of the bereaved. The government machinery will never act or learn despite these tragedies. Though many commissions in the past have recommended safety norms to be implemented, the machinery fails to act. Such a shame.
Shocked to hear about this incident. Condolences. May all the people rest in peace. This will be a unforgetable incident.
My condolence to departed souls. I am a safety and health engineer from the State of Qatar. In my view such accidents and incidents are repeated because of lack of administrative controls. People are not serious until now. This is the right time to get the government bodies act. Here the hazard observed is an overloaded boat and lack of safety measures on board. Why? This is due to lack of administrative controls. As media please try to save more lives, that could be danger in the future.
This is foolishness. Earlier in Thattekkad, a similar tragedy took place, and the Government has done so well that it resulted in this accident! This shows the irresponsibility of the safety departments of Kerala.
Weren't those on the boat wearing life jackets?
As much as this is heartbreaking to hear, it is yet another eye-opener towards the hopeless disregard for safety of Keralites in general. This is the land where unsuspecting pedestrians get run over by a bus every other day, where vandals brutally exterminate people at will and get away with it, and bikers crush their heads to death just because they choose not to spend on a helmet. The responsibility for such mishaps therefore lies both with the authorities who don't stress on safety measures as with the people who don't care two hoots. So, who's to blame? And what is the way out? Meanwhile, all we can do is to just sigh and sympathise with the bereaving families. Those of today and tomorrow.
It is a tragic incident which could have been avoided. Whatever be the costs involved, we must ensure enough safety standards in every sphere of human activity. Enough life-vests and stricter safety instructions could have prevented this mishap.
Very irresponsible with state governments, that this sort of tragedy recurs frequently. There should have been enough personnel on board to instruct passengers, apart from routine tests for worthiness of the boat. Very sad that people do not question the negligence of the Governments, paving way for more tragedies.
Kerala has commercialized tourism so much that it has stopped thinking about anything other than making profit through it and promoting the state. There should be regular checking and maintenance of all the boats.
Thekkady is a famous tourist spot. Why has this happened? It must be due to the negligence of the authorities concerned. They should be punished without any mercy.
I am a tourist guide from Chennai, I have travelled to Thekkady many times with my foreign tourists, on the boat ride when we see the animals foreign tourist watch it from their seats politely but our own Indian tourist immediately stand up from there seats with their loud voices and also try to move the side where the animals are, even though boat drivers rotate the boat for all the tourist to watch the animals from there seats. All the boats have clear safety instructions written in the boats and also the boat assistants keep informing the tourists about the safety instructions to follow. Yet, Indian tourists don’t listen to them. Only disadvantage the boats doesn’t have seat belts, I think installing seat belts and compulsory fastening the belt may control this kind of accidents in future.
Unfortunately, it has happened again and it needs a high level enquiry.
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