Seven years after Thekkady boat tragedy, no action yet

Thiruvananthapuram: Seven years have elapsed since the Thekkady boat tragedy that left 45 tourists dead, but the charge sheet submitted after a crime branch probe is still being heard in a court near here.

The probe report of the Justice (retd) E. Moideen Kunju judicial commission, submitted a few years back, indicted the state-owned Kerala Tourism Development Corporation (KTDC) for the accident.

The commission found that those responsible for buying the boat had failed to ensure the safety requirements and the boat driver was also not an expert driver.

On September 30, 2009, on the last trip, the boat was overloaded with 76 tourists. At around 4.30 p.m., the boat overturned and sank in the lake, leading to the death of seven children, 23 women and 15 men.

Most of the dead hailed from Tamil Nadu.

The crime branch police had arrested K.K. Sanjeev, the surveyor, N.A. Giri, the official of the firm based in Chennai that manufactured the boat, Victor Samuel (the driver of the boat), his assistant, a forest guard and Chief Boat Inspector M. Mathews.

All are currently on bail.