Kerala boat tragedy toll touches 42

The toll in the Periyar Lake boat tragedy rose to 42 with the recovery of 11 more bodies on Thursday.

Though two more persons are reportedly missing, rescue operations were called off for the day due to inclement weather. The bodies had been taken to hospitals in Kochi to be embalmed and flown to Delhi, Kolkata and Hyderabad. Bodies of tourists from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are being taken home by road.

Kerala government, which offered Rs5 lakh as solatium to the kin of the deceased, has announced a judicial probe into the tragedy. “The government has decided to institute a probe by a sitting judge of the high court,” Kerala chief minister VS Achuthanandan said. The Kerala Tourism Development Corporation boat was fitness-certified in June and launched in August, but the driver admitted he had little experience in handling a fibre-bodied boat.

Justice Narayana Kurup, who probed the 2002 Kumarakam boat tragedy, reiterated his demand for appointing a water transport safety commissioner. “The boat may have design defects. It should have been toppled. The driver was inexperienced. There should be a permanent mechanism to monitor all aspects,” he said. The forest department has discontinued water safari in Periyar Tiger Reserve.

Meanwhile, Union minister of state for home Mullappalli Ramachandran, who visited the accident spot, said, “This is a national disaster. People from all over the country have been affected. Kerala home minister and opposition leader have requested the setting up of a National Disaster Response Force unit here. We are considering it.”