The search operation for missing persons in the Mullaperiyar Lake here continued on Friday also and no body was recovered till late in the evening. The Indian Navy team resumed the search operation, which was stopped on Thursday evening owing to unfavourable weather. The death toll of the boat tragedy till Thursday evening was 41.
Since the exact data of the boat travellers and the details of the persons who survived are not clear, it is feared the toll might increase as some bodies might have been trapped in the mud below the water.
A senior official of the forest department said since the water is extremely cool, it may take at least 82 hours for the body to rise from the depths of the water. The Navy team was being helped by the police, fire and rescue team and the officials of the forest department at Marakkanam nearly five km from the boat landing station where the accident took place on Tuesday evening.
P.T. Thomas MP and District Collector Ashok Kumar Singh were camping in the area to oversee the search operation.
In the evening, three boats were engaged at the accident spot and nearby areas to stir up the waters because of the high silt in the area.
PTR closed for tourist
The Periyar Tiger Reserve (PTR) has been closed for tourists till further orders in the wake of the boat tragedy and Kumily and the Thekkady area wore a deserted look on Friday. Tourists who stayed at various hotels were vacating their rooms and were moving to other destinations. The busy tourist area in the boat-landing station was empty of visitors though vehicles owned by forest, Police, revenue, Fire and Rescue team and media persons had occupied the area. “This is for the first time in many years that Thekkady, the favourite location for tourists becomes empty of tourist vehicles and visitors,'' said Jose Kurien, a businessmen on the Kumily-Thekkady road.
Shops in the boat landing area in Thekkady remained closed on Friday and some tourist vehicles, which reached the area immediately returned. “The boat service has been cancelled in the wake of the tragedy and it will be resumed after further orders,” said an official at the Forest Department’s boat ticket counter.
The ill-fated boat ‘Jalakanyka’, owned by the Kerala Tourism Development Corporation which was towed to the shore at Marakkanam was lifted to its normal position on Thursday evening. The District Collector, who will submit a report to the government on the circumstances which led to the accident, told media persons that he would ask the KTDC authorities regarding the allegation that the boat was overloaded. The technical aspects that led to the accident would also be considered before submitting the report, he said.
