Passenger boats throw safety norms to winds

KOCHI: Despite recurring boat tragedies, the safety level of the boats operating in the state continues to be in a pitiable condition.After the Thekkady boat disaster of 2009, which claimed more than 40 lives, the Kerala Inland Vessels Act was passed in 2010 to put a check on inland vessels. But even the basic rules in the Act are being violated by the majority of boats. Around 1,000 inland vessels, including houseboats and ferry boats , ware now plying in the state. But only less than 50 of them have qualified the stability test.“The stability test is the most basic examination being conducted to find out the safety of a vessel. Even if a vessel is not built as per the right design, once the stability test is done we will be able to predict under what conditions the vessel will incline. Based on the results, it is possible for a naval architect to make corrective measures like placing weights such as sandbags to improve the stability and reducing the passenger capacity of boats by making slight alterations in the design. If this particular test had been done on the vessel Jalakanyaka, which had capsized in Thekkady, the accident could have been prevented, said Pyarilal, who prepared the report on the Thekkady mishap. The Ports Department had carried out an extensive survey to bring all registered boats under safety scanner. But the boat owners refused to cooperate with the department. More than 9,00 boats have been registered in Alappuzha alone. The application form for registration of boats clearly states that all boats must be put to stability test within 90 days of the receipt of registration certificate. But many boats have not obtained the stability test certificate in time. Only around 50 boats have obtained the certificate even after a year of introduction of the stability test. “The key issue is that there are only six naval architects who can conduct the stability test. Moreover, all of them are professors. Hence they can do the work only during their free time. Moreover, the infrastructure  needed to carry out the test like the docks have not yet been developed. So we are forced to be lenient,” said chief boats surveyor K R Vinod. But one of the consultant naval architects has disclosed that a number of boat owners were reluctant to bring their boats for safety test for the fear of having to reduce the number of passengers or effect changes in designs.