Indifference, greed & official apathy: Kerala HC on boat tragedy

Kochi, May 9 The Kerala High Court on Tuesday said a deadly cocktail of callousness, indifference, greed and official apathy was the cause of the never-ending boat tragedies occurring in the state.

"From 'Redeemer', which capsized in January 1924 drowning Mahakavi Kumaranashan and 34 others, to 'Jalakanyaka', which went down in water in 2009 at Idukki killing 45, and other Poseidon tragedies with fewer fatalities, happening with frightening regularity, citizens seem justifiably indurated to the news of loss of lives caused solely by the deadly cocktail of callousness, indifference, greed, and official apathy," said the vacation bench of the Kerala High Court.

The vacation division bench of Justice Devan Ramachandran and Justice Shobha Annamma Eapen came down heavily on the government when it initiated suo motu proceedings into the boat accident that occurred on Sunday night in Malappuram's Tanur and claimed the lives of at least 22 persons, including several children.

The court opined that the tragic incident would not have occurred had the concerned authorities done their jobs by ensuring that tourist boats, such as the one involved in the Tanur accident, comply with safety standards.

"Had the officers and authorities invested with the vital legal and statutory duty to watch and monitor, done so, this mishap, like several others, never would have happened. Their responsibility and onus is not lesser if not much more than that of the operators, since it is because the latter's illegal actions obtained deliberate or other support, that violations are perpetrated with no fear of law," said the court.

"Why are the officers concerned silent? ... One other thing is that every time we award compensation to victims, there is no clarity if that is taken from the public exchequer or if it was taken from the officers concerned," Justice Ramachandran orally remarked.

The bench opined that without any intervention and actual change to the prevailing situation, many such incidents are waiting to happen in the state.

"How many more (such incidents) will we have to see? Many more, unless we now put our foot firmly down because the conspicuous and patiently visible causal factors overloading, blatant violation of statutory imperatives, and criminal absence of essential safety requirements, even life jackets are repeated with impunity, without any fear, care or caution...

"The obdurate refusal to follow and enforce the most basic safety protocols, which are taken for granted in the civilised world is the most infuriating, to say the least. More so, since our state has hundreds of boats in tourism, a further such incident, though unthinkable, is waiting to happen somewhere, someplace, if the present state of affairs are allowed to continue," the court said in its order.

The Registry was also directed to make several government authorities as parties to the case, which includes state chief secretary, district collector, police chief among others.

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