Date:22/02/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/02/22/stories/2007022201071000.htm

Opinion - Editorials

An avoidable tragedy

All accidents are preventable, but what makes the sinking of a boat full of school children in Kerala tragic in the extreme is that even a minimal adherence to safety norms would have made all the difference to the 15 children and three teachers who drowned. Boats that were unfit for the waters were overloaded and operated beyond the permitted hours, and with less than the stipulated number of lifebuoys. The school children and the teachers were returning from the Thattekad bird sanctuary in Ernakulam; the boat trip was the last leg of their one-day picnic. As more than 100 students and 12 staff members were packed into just three makeshift boats, there was panic at the first sign of a leak in one of the vessels. Although the boat involved in the accident had the licence to operate, it did not have the mandatory fitness certificate. Tourism is a major revenue-earner for Kerala, and authorities have, over the years, allowed the spawning of a huge unorganised industry. Inland water transport is an important component of the government's tourism initiatives, and, for this reason, officials relax operating norms for boats seen as service-providers for tourists. In a boat with a carrying capacity of 10, there were 37 people. Boating in the Periyar is not permitted after 6 p.m., yet the boats hired for the excursion were operating close to sundown. This made rescue operations difficult. Those who could not be brought back to safety within the first few minutes died.

Besides insisting on adherence to the already laid down safety norms, the government will have to bring the boat operators within a regulatory framework that ensures against haphazard and unsafe ferrying of passengers. It is now planning to frame guidelines for school excursions. The school authorities have the responsibility to ensure the safety of children in their charge during field adventures. Apart from securing strict compliance with the rule prescribing the minimum number of lifebuoys, the government should make life jackets compulsory on boating rides. Irrespective of the immediate circumstances of the tragedy, the fact remains that illegal sand mining has caused deep trenches in the Periyar and other rivers, thus making boat rides unsafe. Without enforcing safety norms at all levels, tourism initiatives would prove counterproductive in the long run.