A jhankar with over 30 passengers and vehicles being swept into the sea by heavy currents on Saturday within 40 days of Fort Kochi ferry accident has reinforced the demand for stepping up safety and enforcement measures in Kochi’s water bodies.
The demand comes in the wake of Pappy, a single-engine vessel introduced as substitute for the ill-fated vessel being withdrawn from service following frequent mechanical and engine problems, and a tourist boat that operated for two months without fitness certificate in the backwaters off Marine Drive being seized on Friday.
Though there is widespread demand for introducing twin-engine, twin-hulled vessels for service in the Fort Kochi-Vypeen sector due to strong undercurrents and its proximity to the sea, Kochi Corporation has placed an order with Kerala Shipping and Inland Navigation Corporation (KSINC) for a single-engine ferry costing Rs.68 lakh. “Adding another engine will increase its cost by just over Rs.10 lakh,” said a senior port department official.
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Throwing light on Pappy using a four-decade-old overhauled engine, head of Cusat’s Ship Technology Department K. Sivaprasad said that such antique engines developed trouble fast when they operated in saline water bodies like the Vypeen-Fort Kochi stretch. “Such vessels must ideally have a second engine. Moreover, only Indian Register of Shipping (IRS)-certified boats must be permitted to operate in Kochi backwaters,” he said.
Rescue boat
Mr. Sivaprasad also called for introducing a rescue boat and a weed-harvester vessel that removed weeds, and water hyacinth from navigable water bodies to prevent them from getting trapped in boat propellers. Reacting to the presence of water in Pappy’s engine sump, he said that crew members should ideally pump it out each day to prevent the vessel from stalling.
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Registering authority of Port Department K.R. Vinod said the department and the police had planned regular joint inspection team to keep tabs on vessels that operated in violation of safety norms.