Problems surface after boat capsizes

A day after the tragic boat mishap at Manapad in Thoothukudi district, the identities of the deceased were established on Monday —  Surendran (10), Sunareshwaran (7), Jeyaraman (42), Suganya (32), Muthulakshmi (27), Usharani (42), Murugeshwari (35), Muthulakshmi (20) and Arun Kumar (12). The 10th person was identified as Abinaya and her body was retrieved by Indian Coast Guard. While 21 people were rescued without injuries, the remaining are being treated at various hospitals in Tiruchendur and Tirunelveli districts.  

Initially, there was confusion about the exact number of persons who had travelled in the boat and on Sunday the officials thought it could be 30. However, investigation revealed that there were 42 persons on the boat, which was way higher than the permissible limit. The tragic incident happened when the victims were returning after participating in a temple festival at Azhagammanpuram near Padukapathu on Sunday evening. When they were 25 metres off the coast, the fibreglass boat capsized because of heavy wind and overcrowding. 

According to sources, only four fishermen can travel in such a boat and they are allowed to fish within five nautical miles from the coast. Occasionally, a few fishermen take tourists for rides for money not exceeding 10 persons per boat. Sources were not sure how 42 people got onto the boat and admitted that it was a clear mistake on the part of the boat operator. Meanwhile, officials of district administration visited the hospital and the accident spot on Sunday night and interacted with the local officials and fishermen. Collector M Ravi Kumar said that the boat in which they travelled was meant only for fishing and not to ferry tourists. Stringent action would be taken against the boat owner and the operator said the Collector. 

Dornier aircraft searches for victims 

As the search and rescue operations were affected due to the poor visibility on Sunday night, district administration sought the help of Coast Guard, which immediately sent ICGS Aadesh to Manapad from Thoothukudi Coast Guard station.  

A Dornier aircraft too was pressed into the search and rescue operation. As ICGS Aadesh could not be brought close to the coast, a boat from the ship was lowered and four Coast Guard personnel carried out search operation. They were the first to spot the body of Abinaya and took her body to ICGS Aadesh from where it was handed over to local officials. 

State Minister for Information and Public Relations Kadambur C Raju on Monday visited the injured victims at the hospital and handed over the compensation by cheque to them and to the kin of deceased. 

Soon after the incident, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palanisamy had ordered an compensation of Rs 2 lakh to the kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for the injured. He had also announced that Kadambur Raju would visit the hospital and distribute the compensation in person. Thoothukudi Collector M Ravi Kumar and Superintendent of Police Ashwin M Kotnis accompanied the minister to the hospital. Tiruchendur MLA Anitha Radhakrishnan also visited Tiruchendur GH and consoled the family of both the deceased and the injured. 

Meanwhile, Koodankulam Marine Police have arrested the boat operator Selvam and boat owner Densingh’s son Kevin. Police acted on the complaint filed Sakthi Kumar from Padukkapathu and arrested the duo on Monday. Police said that the case has been filed under section 304(A) and added that they were investigating  the incident.