The most unsafe Boat Rides: Dwarka to Bet Dwarka, The Andaman islands, The Chilka lakes of Odisha, The Brahmaputra River, Mumbai Gateway of India to Elephanta Caves and so on…….

The 4 kms nightmare of my life from Dwarka to Bet Dwarka. It was a nice autumn afternoon when I decided to pay my homage to my God…Lord Krishna with my husband and son. We drove down to Okha coast in Gujarat. We were told that a boat will take us to the island of Bet Dwarka approximately 4 kms from the coast. The sea had submerged the land in between which required a boat ride to the palace temple of Lord Krishna.

We reached the jetty to realize that no rules, regulations, safety measures were in place. When the boat arrived, we were pushed from behind and almost 150 people boarded the boat which should not have a capacity of more than 50 people. On raising objection, the boatman rudely told us to get off as it was a season and that was the norm.

No safety jackets were provided to the passengers. We sat along the side of the boat on a most insecure journey of our life in the name of God on the Arabian sea with high waves and quite turbulent waters. The boat was a country boat with the most polluting diesel engine throwing up black fumes at the mercy of an untrained local boatman with possibly an irregular license.

Who is responsible for this irregularity in our own territorial waters? Who would be responsible if death or injury is caused to such a huge number of passengers both from India and foreigners due to a maritime accident? What about licenses and training to the boatmen? What about the seaworthiness of the vessels? What about safety measures for passengers? Why does the administration turn a blind eye to such a relevant issue which involves lacs of persons either on a pilgrimage or simply on tourism?

Are the relevant authorities going to do something about passenger safety in terms of boat travel in India whether it is Dwarka to Bet Dwarka, the Andaman islands, Gateway of India Mumbai to Elephanta caves, Chilka lakes in Odisha, the Sunderbans in Bengal or the Brahmaputra in Assam, the Shikaras in Kashmir etc. The issues are all the same. No safety for passengers. The authorities have all turned a blind eye for reasons best understood. Its time the citizens raised their voice for their own safety.

Mr. Prime Minister, you are a very charismatic leader and I have a very high regard for you. You have travelled globally. I am sure you have taken boat rides in USA, Europe and other developed countries. How do you feel about my experiences on India’s territorial waters? Therefore,  before you launch your cruise travel from India kindly address these issues of human safety on India’s territorial waters. Travel on these territorial waters of India generate much higher revenue than a cruise travel would involving a much larger movement of the ordinary citizen of the country. Further, it is our own people whose lives should be most important to you.

The Safety of a Boat Ride in the Territorial Waters .2

A few years had passed since I had to travel using the most unsafe form of water transport in my city- the unregistered, unlicensed, non monitored, non regulated small country boats.  I had reached the 4th standard in my school academic career, grown taller and possibly more brave at heart.

One fine winter afternoon, as far as I remember a Sunday of course, my dad had just come back to India having completed some assignment in Europe and UK. He showed us beautiful pictures that he had clicked using his Yashica camera. Some of the photographs which attracted my attention and very relevant to the current discussion was his boat rides on the river Seine in Paris and the canals of Amsterdam. How safe and beautiful the boats were. There were railings all around, comfortable seats arranged systematically. There was a pilot who operated the boat from the pilot’s cabin adjoining the engine room. There were toilets on the boats, a small bar and cafe. Ceilings open and covered. I was awe stricken. Boats could be so beautiful? Dad boasted about the safety features of the boats including fire safety equipment on board, life saving gears on board. The Pilot was trained and looked smart and presentable like an airline pilot. I was amazed. The boarding and alighting, as dad explained was through a secured jetty onto the boat.

Dad offered to take us for a boat ride that afternoon from Dakhineshwar to Belur on the river Hooghly. I was half obsessed with the French and Dutch boats. I forgot that I was in Calcutta. The family was ready for the picnic cum religious tour to the famous temple of goddess Kali at Dakhineshwar . We reached the temple and paid our respect to the most revered goddess. Thereafter dad directed us to proceed towards the boarding point called ‘ghats’ in Bengal. The boat would take us to Belur matt of Swami Vivekananda who was my childhood ideal and whom I still try to emulate in my spiritual progression. That was the first time I was visiting the Belur Matt. So was excited …very very excited. But the balloon of my spirit was soon deflated at the very first sight of my expected boat ride. Five years have passed but no development I thought. The same black country boat which Suleiman would oar me to cross the Salt Lake creek again confronted me . My happiness was absolutely denuded and I looked at the mighty river Hooghly at that place. It was ten times wider than the Salt Lake creek and I am sure must have been at least five times deeper. I dared not ask my mother who was a national swimming champion and these depths meant nothing to her. In fact the happy irony was my dad, mom and sister were equally good swimmers. I was the only one who had never even stood in a children’s swimming pool.

Anyways, keeping my fear to nurture and gradually subside in me, the four of us boarded the boat. There were no railings, no seats, no toilets, no cafes, no engine, no pilot, no life jackets…just dependence on God and my parents for safety. The photographs dad showed me a few hours back remained a dream only. The boat was a black country boat, the pilot was a boy about 18 years old named Sachin, I remember. Sachin wore a cloth around his waist called ‘lungi’ in Bengal. He was bare bodied and bare foot. Nowhere near the smart well trained pilot of my dad’s boat ride in Paris and Amsterdam. He had one bamboo oar in his hand to take us across the river. He told my father that he had just finished school and could not afford to study anymore . So he was working as a labourer to oar the boat from Dakhineshwar to Belur and back. He earned 500 ( INR) per month. He had no training just self help. The planks were cut in the centre to create place for four of us to balance ourselves and sit down on the floor of the boat.

I asked dad even after so many years why Indian boats are so unsafe? Aren’t there any laws? An eminent lawyer and professor of law, my dad loved sharing his immense knowledge. The rest of the journey was spent in our legal enlightenment. I remember he mentioned something called the The Bengal Ferries Act 1885. the Britishers had legislated. It then extended to Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. Dad said the sole purpose was to collect revenues from Ferry activities. After independence in 1947, dad said that the said Act was adapted to Indian laws. Dad enlightened us as far as I remember that the rules of Bengal Ferries Act 1885 did not include safety aspects of the boatmen, operating procedures and mechanisms of boats and boat making etc. The ferry ghat infrastructure requirements had also not been outlined much in the act. There had been an overall paucity of instruments of enforcing regulatory control measures over the private boat operating services in major water channels. Such boats did have no safety arrangements, yet  passengers had no other means but to adopt this means of transportation.

Dad also mentioned a few things about Union List, State List and Concurrent List in our Constitution and that the responsibility of the implementation of rules and regulations related to safety of inland vessels primarily rests with the state governments.

My elder sister who was in the first year of college possibly understood much more than I did. I was only looking at my wrist watch and calculating the time and distance to the shore. The only thought in my mind was how unsafe everything about that boat ride was. I said to myself with my little understanding of the administrative and legislative system at that time, if I ever become a part of the government when I grow up, I shall definitely do something to make boat rides in India similar to what my dad experienced in Paris and Amsterdam…

The Safety of a Boat Ride in the Territorial Waters

I wish to write a series on this topic based on my experience since childhood. I will first do a spatio-temporal analyses on my boat ride experience in the territorial waters of India, Mauritius, USA, UK, Netherlands, Germany & Singapore. I will also include my experience in Cruising from Singapore & Florida. Thereafter, I would delve into the evident safety aspects of these rides in terms of the prevalent legal regime and its actual implementation. My journey through the inland waterways or coastal waters of various countries have been intriguing. My boat rides were mostly for pleasure and I am sure wherever an improvement is a necessity, the sovereign government will either make laws in the absence of them or ensure better implementation for the safety of innumerable innocent humans who use boats either as a means of transport under compulsion or simply as a pleasure ride. After all what is the relevance of Laws if not to better our lives, living conditions and the overall quality of existence.

Let me go back in time to the earliest days of my childhood when I was in pre- primary school. I do not carry an active memory prior to that. I come from a city which was then called Calcutta, named by the rulers of the country where I live now. In 1690 Mr. Job Charnok who was a British Agent of the English East India Company selected this place for a British trade settlement. The site was carefully selected bounded by the Hooghly river ( a distributary of the mighty Ganges), a creek running through North and salt marshes on the east. These salt marshes were later filled up and the posh colony of Salt Lake City was established somewhere between 1958 to 1965 where my father,  an eminent lawyer, managed to build our house, which is still there. It was later named Bidhannagar after the eminent Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy. Calcutta was also renamed as Kolkata in 2001.

There is a fresh water creek that even today boundaries Salt Lake City. Many overhead bridges have been built to cross the creek at present. Some of these are foot bridges and some for vehicular traffic. When I was in my pre primary school, my school bus picked all children from Salt Lake across the creek. So early in the morning my mother used to drop me and my sister on the other side of the creek which we crossed on a boat everyday- twice- once in the morning and once while returning from school. It was indeed an experience. The boatman was called Suleiman and knew us in person. The boat was a black coloured vessel, bigger than a paper boat, four persons could stand, besides the boatman. There were no rails, nothing to hold except my mother’s hand for absolute safety. There were a couple of half broken planks on the boat for us to stand and balance ourselves. Suleiman earned 10 paise ( INR) per ride. I asked my mother everyday how deep was the water below. She replied in absolute calm ‘maybe about 10 feet’. My height at the maximum would have been about 2.5 feet. I was extremely scared and trusted my mother and God to live through those days of my childhood travel to school. Till finally after one year, the school principal was kind enough to ask the bus driver to pick us up from our houses as by then there were many children going to the same school.

My experience stated above dates back to the later part of the 1970’s. In the next article I shall share more experiences down the time line, spread over geographical space to see whether situations have changed since then…..

The collision of the Oil tanker Sanchi flying the Panamanian Flag has kept the debate on Flags of Convenience open even after tall claims by Mr. Scott Bergeron on positive indicators being accorded to Panama and Liberia by the International Chamber of Shipping. Was this collision inevitable? Which was the last port state to inspect Sanchi? Was all OK? Possibly the real facts sank with the master and crew. No body may be told the truth. But the environment and aquatic life will die a silent death many times more than the Alaskan coast of 1989. Where is the locus of responsibility with accountability?