Weekend View: Thekkady Boat Tragedy

ADVERTISEMENTS

A tourist boat capsized on September 30 in Thekkady. 42 passengers drowned (nearly half of them are children) and lost their lives.

Some disturbing reports on this tragedy available are:

The double decker boat ‘Jalakanyaka’ is operated by Kerala Tourist Development Corporation (KTDC).
The boat capsized at a depth of 40 to 50 feet in Periyar Lake at Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary, Thekkady around 1730 hrs IST.
The Indian Navy diving team from the Southern Naval Command reached the Thekkady boat accident site early morning on October 01 and commenced rescue operations at first light.
Reasons reported for the accident
- boat was over crowded than the rated capacity.
- passengers suddenly moved to one side of the boat to watch some wildlife and the boat capsized due to that.
- not the fault of passengers, the boat was listing from the time of departure and capsized while turning.
other reports on the boat
- none of the passengers were wearing life jackets.
- boat is not certified for use as per Canals and Ferry Act.
- the boat is not provided with any wireless set or any other communication facility to send SOS in case of an emergency.
- bad weather hampered search and rescue operations.
Timings for boat cruises on the Periyar Lake: 0700, 0930, 1130, 1400, 1600 hrs.
A judicial probe is being set up by Kerala government to investigate the accident.

View some video clips and photographs:

View a slideshow from The Hindu: India’s watery graves and read more from The Hindu.

Posts in MarineBuzz on this day a year before:

Did you enjoy this article? Please subscribe to RSS Feed to receive all the updates!