With four more bodies recovered, the death toll inSaturday evening’s boat tragedy in Bihar rose to 24.The boat carrying over 60 people capsized in the Ganga while coming to the NIT ghat in Patna from Sandalpur area.
Is this an administrative failure?
The boat disaster is another reminder that safety in public transport remains a low priority for governments. Mishaps in the inland waterways and lakes take a terrible toll of lives regularly, with no effective administrative response.
In the Ganga Diara tragedy near Patna, a large number of people had apparently crammed themselves into a small vessel for a free ride after witnessing a kite festival.
The boat involved appears not to have used its engine at the time of the accident, but the absence of safety training for operators is painfully evident.
The accident has exposed glaring holes in the system in place for water transport in the area: of the 50 private boats that ply on this section of the Ganga every day, over 30 are not registered and none carries life-jackets or safety tubes.
There is a rule in place that boats shouldn’t ply after sunset. But this is often flouted with hardly any government officials present here during normal days.
Besides, officials said, NDRF teams were not called in as standby for the festival,which is being held annually for the last three years, and has been attracting thousands.
The capsized boat was pulled out from 15-ft-deep water by the NDRF on Sunday — its front portion was completely damaged. This was obviously the result of serious neglect of safety norms for which accountability must be fixed.
What needs to be done?
It is essential that a judicial commission be constituted to inquire into the incident, to determine whether the laws on transport using inland waterways are being implemented and to issue directions for the future.
The Centre should respond to the shameful national record on boat safety by firmly implementing existing laws and introducing new measures along with the States.
Just last year it expanded the National Waterways programme and notified several stretches of rivers and canals for a new deal for inland water transport.
Just as in the case of motor vehicles, registration of inland vessels other than small personal non-powered craft must be made mandatory.
This will help enforce construction standards, subsidy for transport boats, passenger insurance and accident compensation.
Concluding remarks:
In the latest tragedy, the problem also appears to have beeninadequate supply,which forced people to pack themselves into the available boats. If this is true, the Bihar government must own full responsibility and prevent a recurrence.
This incident must stir the conscience of governments whose duty it is to provide safe and adequate public transport, and one at which it failed badly.
