Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: An enraged relative of one of the victims of the Kerala boat tragedy that killed over 40 on Friday stormed a minister’s press conference and demanded that responsibility be taken up for the accident.
Storming a press interaction of Kerala Food and Civil Supplies Minister C Divakaran, a victim’s kin who had come to claim the body of the deceased rejected any compensation and called it ‘donation politics.’
“When will this excuse based politics end. And secondly I would like to request you to stop this `donation currency` ...this policy of donating money after people die. We don`t need this money, we need better infrastructure,” he asked a stunned minister with folded hands.
Forty one tourists were killed when the double-decker fiberglass boat owned by the state-run Kerala Tourism Development Corporation capsized Wednesday evening in Thekkady lake at the Periyar wildlife sanctuary.
The minister assured the grieved relative that justice would be rendered and that he should appreciate the government’s work to which the kin asked what was there to thank.
“I should appreciate that they didn`t provide life jacket & basic infrastructure?” he asked, adding that though he had regard for him, the tragedy wouldn’t have occurred had the minister stood by the people on a regular bases.
The angry relative further said there were no life-jackets due to cost-cutting measures to which the minister said, “Are you accusing me? Are you putting me on trial?” The kin demanded that accountability be taken for the accident.
The minister said he was wrongly being shouted at and that he had been to other families too but no one had such things to him. The relative clarified he was not shouting. The minister said ‘sorry’ about the incident as demanded by the relative.
State govt criticises Centre
Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan Friday criticised the central government for not providing a military aircraft to transport the bodies of the victims of the Thekkady boat tragedy.
Achuthanandan`s response came in reply to a question put by reporters at a function.
Speaking to reporters at the Kochi airport midnight Thursday, state Home and Tourism Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, who had come to supervise the loading of the bodies in a flight chartered by the state government from a private airline, said that the state government did request the defence ministry for an aircraft but it was not provided.
"Since that did not happen, we decided to charter an aircraft to transport the dead bodies. The entire cost will be borne by us," he said.
"Sixteen bodies were sent in the chartered flight while four bodies to Delhi and two to Mumbai were sent today (Friday) morning. Meanwhile three bodies bound for Punjab have been embalmed in a hospital near Kottayam," M. Beena, district collector of Ernakulam, told IANS.
Police team formed to probe boat tragedy
A special police team has
been constituted to probe into Wednesday`s boat tragedy here
in Kerala`s Idukki district which has claimed 41 lives.
The ten-member team, headed by Superintendent of Police
(Crime Branch) P A Valsan, would investigate all aspects of
the tragedy, including safety of the boat, officials said
today.
It would comprise a Deputy Superintendent of Police, a
Circle Inspector and a Sub-Inspector and six Assistant
Sub-Inspectors, they said.
Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan had yesterday ordered a
judicial probe into the mishap for which services of a Kerala
High Court sitting judge would be sought.
