Tamil Nadu - Chennai

TTDC demonstrates rescue operations at Muttukadu

CHENNAI: Shouts, splashes and laughter pierced the unusually cold air at the Muttukkadu Boat Club on Saturday, as employees of the Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation (TTDC) showed off the safety features of its boats and demonstrated how rescue operations were carried out to an audience of college students and tourists.

Four- and eight-seater boats as well as pedal boats with occupants were filled completely with water. The boats did not sink or capsize. This, according to Professor Anantha Subramaniam, Department of Ocean Engineering, IIT and consultant to the tourism corporation, was because the boats were made of fibreglass with buoyancy chambers on all sides filled with polyurethane foam. “The boat becomes a platform,” Prof. Subramaniam said, allowing people to cling onto it even when it is partially overturned.

Though six men clung to its side, the boat remained stable. Creating waves by rocking the boat from side to side, the men proved that the boat would not topple even in choppy water.

The use of the lifejacket was then demonstrated. “It can bear a weight of 100 kilograms even though it weighs only half-a-kilogram,” said R. Samson, manager of the boat house. The jacket would keep the wearer’s head and shoulders above water and could be used on children as well, he added.

Life buoys are now a compulsory addition on every boat, Mr. Samson said, as boat marshals demonstrated its use. If a person not wearing a life jacket falls off a boat the marshal would immediately send a boat to his rescue. A life buoy will be thrown to the person and he will be hauled into the rescue boat. He said that it was also compulsory for pedal boat users to wear life jackets. TTDC Managing Director M. Rajaram said that the corporation intends to buy banana boats, kayaks and water scooters soon to make the club “more lively.” Cruise-like entertainment programmes were also being planned, he added. The kayaks would be bought by mid-August, and more such demonstrations would be held in all the boat clubs under the corporation, he said.

A new feature at the club is angling, where customers are given fishing rods with worms as baits and allowed to fish. Around 200 people throng the club on weekdays and their numbers swell to about 1,000 on weekends. This is the first time such a demonstration is being held at the club, which houses 59 boats.

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