Two women tourists from Chennai and their two children, including a five-year-old girl, were killed in a boat accident here on Saturday morning.
Sudheshini, 26, wife of Pandidurai, Flat Number 155, MGR Nagar, Athannur, Oorappakkam, Kancheepuram District, and her five-year-old girl Ilakkya and Rohini, 32, wife of Manoj, Number GA, Pioneer House, 28, Saravana Street, T. Nagar, Cheruvallur District, Chennai, and her daughter Sushmita, 14, were drowned and Nidha, 42, was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of the Alappuzha General Hospital.
The deceased were part of the 63-member team of employees from the Hearing Aid Centre, Nugambakkam, Chennai and their family members. The team was on two-day tour of the State.
The accident occurred at the Kayal Kurissadi Boat Jetty, where the 63-member team was to board a house boat for a whole day trip to the backwaters. The team reached Kochi on Saturday early morning and checked into a hotel at Vazhakkala in the city before heading towards Alappuzha by road.
The accident occurred when the team was boarding the house boat kept ready for them. Rajesh V., one of the survivors who have been admitted to the General Hospital, told The Hindu that their boat was berthed by the side of another boat near the jetty and they were asked to pass through the first boat to reach their boat.
When women and kids were passing along the narrow bridge along the boat berthed closer to the jetty, it started to tilt. Locals and other boat operators, who were present at the spot, told The Hindu that this boat was berthed there for repair.
Once the boat started to tilt, the crowd panicked. “We could take out those who were closer to the jetty and even those on the other side of the boat. But in the panic, some of them got inside the boat and were trapped as the boat sank in no time. We tried to break a window that remained above water level and pulled some out, but these two women and children could not make it,” said Kunjumon, one of the boat workers who was involved in the rescue operations.
Those admitted to the hospital, besides Ms. Nidha, were Kalpana, 27; Sahana, four-and-a-half; Hridayavarsha, 10; Prathibha, 34; Rajkumar, 32, and Albert, 43. Sheeba, 34, wife of Ashokan, one of the house boat operators, was admitted to the hospital, after she collapsed on reaching the spot and witnessing the tragedy.
K.C. Venugopal, Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation, supervised the rescue operations there. “All arrangements were made to take the dead bodies over to Chennai in mobile freezers and an Air-bus was arranged for rest of the team to accompany them. Police and revenue officials have also been asked to escort the team,” he told The Hindu.
A.P. Anil Kumar, Minister for Tourism; T.M. Thomas Isaac, MLA; P. Venugopal, Alappuzha District Collector; K. Padmakumar, Inspector General of Police, Kochi Range and Thomson Jose, Superintendent of Police, Alappuzha, were also present at the hospital to handle the situation.
The tourist team were to return to Kochi by Saturday evening and stay there for the night. They had plans to visit Athirapally waterfalls in Thrissur on Sunday before returning to Chennai by evening train.
Non-existent facilities at the boat jetty caused the accident
The ripples at the Kayal Kurissadi Boat Jetty, the busiest tourist spot in the district, are not as placid and safe as it appeared. For a prime tourist spot, from where nearly 1000 house boats start operations on a peak season day, there is almost no facilities available for berthing or handling the boats.
Local boat operators told The Hindu that only three or four jetties are functional and boats are berthed there. Boats that come after that are tied to the berthed boats and tourists are made to walk across the boats, at times more than one, to board.
“We have complained about the dilapidated condition of the boat jetty to the District Tourism Promotion Council even last week, but nothing has happened here. There is just one police aid-post here, with a couple of men posted. Similarly, our long-standing demand for a Fire and Rescue Station unit here has not been paid heed to,” said Prasanna Kumar, of the All Kerala Houseboat Owners and Operators Samiti.
The boat jetty is just a 50 metre away from the main road, but the access to the jetty is too narrow for timely rescue operations during a crisis like this. “The street lights are not functioning along this stretch. The sidewalls of the jetty are all broken up. The authorities will just plaster some cement when it is time for the [Nehru Trophy Snake] Boat race and leave it at that. The stumps of the disused jetties, which will be submerged during high tides, making it even more dangerous during rescue operations,” said Shamji S., another boat operator.
The tourists from Chennai had hired a big boat named Water Lilly that could accommodate all of them, but it could not be berthed close to the jetty. They were passing through the boat All Seasons, which was out of operations and berthed there for repair, when the accident occurred.
New boat jetty soon: K.C. Venugopal
The tenders for new boat jetty have already been issued and the work is about to be completed in another six months, K.C. Venugopal, Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation and who represented Alappuzha Lok Sabha constituency.
He was interacting with The Hindu after consoling the survivors of the boat tragedy at the Alappuzha General Hospital on Saturday. The Minister, who was in Cherthala at the time of the accident, rushed to the hospital in no time. Once the boat jetty is renovated, it can handle nearly 60 boats at the same time, he said.
He was at a loss for words to console Pandidurai, who lost his wife Sudheshini and five-year-old girl, in the accident. The Minister watched helplessly, as the bereaved man broke into sobs on seeing his family photograph inside his wallet.
“The State Government will meet all the expenses of taking the dead and the survivors back to home,” Mr. Venugopal said.
Later addressing the media, A.P. Anil Kumar, Minister for Tourism, said that the State Goverment was committed to ensure the safety of all tourists coming to enjoy the beauty of Alappuzha backwaters.
An urgent meeting has been convened by the Chief Minister Oommen Chandy at the District Collectorate here on February 1 to discuss all these issues, he said
Responding to a query on the bad condition of the boat jetty, where the accident occurred, Mr. Anil Kumar said that the State Government has already allotted Rs. Five crore for constructing gallery for the Boat Race and Rs.10 crore for renovation of the terminal. The works would be expedited, he said.
Discussions were held with Mr. Chandy and K. Babu, Minister for Ports, regarding the accident. A decision on the solatium for the victims of the accidents would be taken at the next Cabinet meeting. The prime concern now is to ensure safe return of the survivors, Mr. Anil Kumar said.
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