Kannur: It is not just roads in Kerala that claim lives. The regular pattern of fatal accidents on waterways in the coastal state point to poor infrastructure, unsafe vessels and casual supervision by authorities tasked with ensuring the standards of boats as well as safety of crew and passengers. The Tanur boat tragedy is the latest in a series of accidents on lakes and backwaters in Kerala.
It has come to light that one-third of the number of boats operating in the inland water bodies of the State as passenger and tourist services are not registered. According to the Maritime Board, which is entrusted with the task of conducting the safety survey of water transport vehicles, there are 10,231 registered vessels in the State. Officials admit that over three times this number of vessels are conducting operations in Kerala.
Such is the state of affairs that more than one boat operates under the same registration number. Such practices continue unhindered owing to the lack of a permanent system for the inspection of boats that are conducting services on the inland water bodies.
Understaffed inspection department
There are only two surveyors in the State to undertake inspection of boats for safety. The area from Thiruvananthapuram to Alappuzha is under the jurisdiction of one surveyor while that from Ernakulam to Kasaragod is under the other official. All boats are registered by the Port Officer stationed in Alappuzha while there are no relevant registers or officials in-charge at the district level.
Even though the port officers at Vizhinjam, Kollam, Alappuzha, Kodungallur, Beypore and Azhikkal have been given the responsibility of inspecting the boats for safety, they are unable to survey such a large number of vessels.
The Maritime Board issues the registration for boats for a period of five years and a safety survey is conducted every year. There have been instances of the officials arriving to conduct the safety inspection being prevented from discharging their duties.
Even though the period allotted for operation of the boats is from sunrise to sunset, this is not followed in many places. The stipulation that the vessels should not approach the estuary is also flouted.
Although the first Maritime Board had decided to trace registered vessels and force them to register and to impose heavy fines on those vessels that refuse to do so, the decision has not been enforced.
Stakeholders in the sector point out that the Maritime Board cannot wash its hands of the issue by claiming that the lack of manpower is what hinders the survey of boats.
Over 600 employees who have been recruited through the Public Service Commission (PSC) or taken on contract, are working under the Board. The inspection of vessels could be carried out properly if the responsibility for this is divided among these employees since there are no port operations in the State at present. It is more than a year since the sole shipping service along the Kerala coast came to a halt.
Poor infrastructure
Not only boats but jetties also have been constructed in an unscientific manner at many places. There are shipping berths only at the ports of Vizhinjam, Kollam, Beypore and Azhikkal out of the 17 ports coming under the jurisdiction of the Maritime Board.
