Goings-on in Thekkady and elsewhere not conducive for safe travel

By O.J.George

Reports coming out about the hanky-panky in boating arrangements at Thekkady reservoir point to prevailing undesirable activities not fit for security.

Tourists who are anaware of the risk to which they fall, in the deep waters, pay any amount to have a view of the wildlife at close quarters.

Elephants, deer etc are aplenty in the Periyar wildlife sanctuary and when they reach the waters’ edge from the forests, tourists can have a clear view and a feeling of proximity to the run-wild, run-free denizens of the animal kingdom.

For this adventurous trip, they would pay whatever is demanded by the boat operators. Kerala Tourism Development Corporation and the Forest Department run boat services within the reservoir.

Now it is coming clear, when tourists are aplenty, they are loaded on to the boat without taking recourse to the carrying capacity.

On the day of the Jalakanyaka tragedy, there were 12 excess passengers on the upper deck. The boat driver cannot deny space for them as they are sent by either the KTDC or Forest Department people.

Additional chairs were put on the upper deck for accommodating the excess tourists.

Sometimes exorbitant charges are levied from the tourists who come late and who want to have a journey anyway, for they would want to go away from Thekkady that day itself.

Other boats like Jalaraja, Jalamohini, Jalasundari etc also charge extra like this, people say.

Meanwhile, the technical stability requirement of Jalakanyaka is also under question. Experts have suggested that if 12 additional tourists board the boat, it should have an incline of only 14 degrees.

In the present case, when the boat reached 14 degrees incline, it overturned. Usually the boats should have an incline of up to 60 degrees without overturning, experts say.

Therefore, it could be surmised that there was serious flaw in the structural mould of the boat.

Apart from that, there was no system of insisting on wearing life jackets, presence of life guards, security personnel.

The tourists are just thrown into a confused situation. They think that everything is okay, but in reality, everything has been wrong.

The government has now decided all tourists would have life jackets from now on. In fact, all boat passengers everywhere should be provided with life jackets. Think of the passengers in Vembanad lake and Kochi backwaters traveling in insecure conditions.

Safety should be provided everywhere.