Atlantic, the boat that sank in the Poorappuzha estuary at Ottumpuram Thoovaltheeram on Sunday evening drowning 22 people, including 15 children and five women, had apparently violated safety norms.
First, the boat was constructed without permission from the authorities. The boat owner, Nazar P. Tanur, secured the permission later by paying a fine. The boat had no licence to conduct tourist services, though it flashed some registration number on its stern.
The police arrested Mr. Nazar from Kozhikode on Monday and a case was slapped against him for culpable homicide.
Experts said that Atlantic had the hull of a fishing boat, and it was converted into a passenger vessel. Some people had raised doubts about the safety of the boat even when it launched its service at Thoovaltheeram on the day of Vishu on April 15.
None of the passengers who travelled in the boat on its fatal journey on Sunday evening had worn life jackets. Though the boat has a few life jackets, the number of people being carried in the evenings was far more.
Some local people had warned the operators against overcrowding. A blogger who shot a video of the people getting off the overcrowded boat was manhandled by one of the crew members.
Objecting to the boat service without enough safety measures, the local people had complained to the police against the service. However, the police too had reportedly turned a blind eye on the complaint.
Incensed by the callousness of the boat operators that led to the tragedy, the local people burnt down the wooden jetty at Ottumpuram Thoovaltheeram on Monday.
According to witnesses, the overcrowded boat had swung to one side even when it started from the jetty on Sunday evening. With nearly 40 people (officially 37) on board, the boat capsized while taking a turn in the middle of the river about 300 metres off Thoovaltheeram, a sandy tourist destination between Parappanangadi and Tanur.
Local people who engaged in the rescue work said that the boat driver was partly responsible for the tragedy. They said that had the driver taken a careful, slow turn, the tragedy could have been avoided.
The boat sank and rested in the muddy bed in the middle of the river. The water in the river was about five metres depth. The rescuers had to dive into the closed lower deck of the boat to fish out the bodies. Many of the rescuers suffered wounds on their limbs from broken glass panes and iron rods.
