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Tragedy struck a group of tourists on Wednesday evening when about 30 of them drowned after the boat they were travelling in capsized in Thekkady lake in Kerala's [ Images ] Idukki district while 40 others were rescued.
The boat, with about 80 passengers onboard, mostly tourists from outside Kerala, sank after cruising five km from the boarding point from where it had set out around 4 pm.
The deceased included eight women and six children, Idukki SP Chellappan said, adding all the 20 bodies have been recovered.
Forty people were rescued and the condition of six of them was stated to be critical, district officials said.
The tourists on Kerala Tourism Development Corporation's 'Jalakanyaka' boat were on a tour of the wildlife sanctuary along the lake.
Sources living near the spot told rediff.com that there had been heavy winds at the time of the tragedy and this could also have been a reason for the mishap.
The police and the naval divers are still searching for those missing in the lake.
State Tourism Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said officials of the district administration and forest department had reached the site and rescue operations were on.
Besides state forces, a team of 40-50 navy divers have been rushed to the spot from the Southern Naval Command at Kochi, 150 km from the lake, naval sources said.
The injured had been rushed to nearby hospitals, officials said.
This is a first major boat tragedy in the state after the boat carrying school children capsized at the Thattekkad Bird Sanctuary in Ernakulam district a few years back which claimed 22 lives, most of them primary students.
Official sources said the possibility of foreign tourists being among the victims could not be ruled out.
Top police officials said several boats with rescue guards and generators for providing light had been sent to the spot where the boat sank, they said.
Expressing shock over the tragedy, Defence Minister A K Antony said from New Delhi [ Images ] that navy and other forces had been instructed to render all possible help in the rescue work.
Chief Minister V.S.Achuthanandan and leader of the state opposition Oomen Chandy has requested the Union government to provide the necessary naval resources from their base at Kochi.
The defense minister's office told rediff.com that naval divers had been deployed for the operations.
With agency inputs
Via. http://news.rediff.com/report/2009/sep/30/six-dead-as-tourist-boat-capsizes-in-kerala-lake.htm
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A SHAME AFTER A SHAME
ReplyDeleteThere is a saying that –If you cry in the rain no body will see your tears nor come to know you are crying, here we are crying and our government is like the rain, this is the feeling that came into my mind when I was watching the live television news about the boat accident from my flat in Dubai 1503 Nautical miles away from my home town. Inspired by the souls of demise, I decided to take my pen and add a few comments on the incident which I think might be beneficial for the human kind and for my country which I love the most, to make them aware to make them proactive and to open up the eyes of the sleeping.
It is imperative for the officials of a country to adhere to the health, safety and environment regulations protecting the rights and lives of each and every individual. As a Health, Safety and Environmental practitioner and a citizen of INDIA it is my concern and should be the right and concern of each and every individual to know and have a proper understanding about the series of accidents that happened at Thattekadu Bird Sanctuary’ that took a heart breaking 18 lives to their eternal sleep and the recent one happened on 30.09.2009 at the Thekkady wild life sanctuary that took the lives of 41 people including expatriates. Although lots of misconceptions about the accident are published in the Medias little information about the root cause of such a devastating accidents are known. Despite of several similar accidents that carved away the life of individuals which took place within the period of time it is really a shame of the government not to take the initiative and proactive measures for preventing such accidents from occurring in the future. The shock of each accident fades with time and we wait for the next incident to happen. It is time to investigate and know when, how and why do these accidents take place?
In the 20th century were India has set its goal among the other developing nations and we change from bullock carts to BMW, still health and safety is of most concern. Although safety procedures are demonstrated on several sites, implementation of such safe practices is still in the pipeline. The real root cause of any such accidents is the lack of risk assessments and level of competency and pure ignorance. The expenditure on health and safety will be peanuts for the government who invest millions on IT parks and Metros to comply with health and safety and raise the competency level of each sector or a department by giving right information, training, instruction and supervision which I call competence. Hence lifting the countries standard to an international level. This can be achieved by introducing health and safety into every sector and department which has to be decided by the government that includes authorization and commissioning of a system for testing and inspection of all plants and equipments including boats and ships to ensure at least the minimum compliance for safety precautions are achieved.
KTDC- Kerala Tourism Development Corporation:- what does this development stands for? Is it the development of the economy or development for the well being of the individuals who sacrifice their lives? Health and safety should be the key for any organization or department and government shall demonstrate the commitment for a near future by proper planning and implementation of health and safety, it doesn’t stop their . It is essential that all safety procedures should be briefed by authorities and understood by each and every one of us before attempting a holiday in a sacrificial boat. It is time to think and to be proactive otherwise tomorrow our beloved ones might be the victims of sensational news for Media’s worldwide.
Remember nothing in this world is for free. Next time when you spend the money to purchase the ticket for a holiday cruise it shouldn’t be the ticket for our lazy government to drag you to hell.
Compiled by: Sarath Rajan
Senior Safety practitioner
Kier Dubai.LLC
00971505540343