Kochi: The Vypeen-Fort Kochi ferry service was disrupted on Thursday, a day after the boat tragedy, as the Kerala ports department denied permission to the contractor to operate a spare boat because it had no valid fitness certificate.
Two boats — MV Bharat and MV Harsha — were operating on the route as per an agreement with the Kochi Corporation. While MV Bharat was completely damaged in the mishap on Wednesday, MV Harsha needed to undergo maintenance work.
“The contractor approached us for permission to operate the spare boat. But we found that it did not possess a valid fitness certificate and denied permission,” said T.K. Ajayan, chief surveyor, Kerala ports department.
Hundreds of commuters were also put to difficulty as jankar services, the only other water mode option, also did not operate. It takes nearly two ho-urs to commute by road as the vehicles have to negotiate traffic in Kochi city.
“The contractors are running old boats. The condition of the jankars is also no different. They are nearly 15 years old and the hull has started corroding. The corporation is all set to run RORO services. We want them to operate the services directly instead of leasing the operations to a third party,” said Francis Chammany, president, Vypeen Boat Passengers Association.
Meanwhile, the Kerala ports department would strictly implements the norms to provide lifeb-uoys in the ration of 1:1.
“Till last year, the IB rules allowed owners to provide only half lifebuoys in relation to the total passenger capacity. Now the norms have been made stricter. We will conduct surprise raids on boats plying in the Kochi backwaters to ensure that each boat has one lifebuoy for every passenger,” the officer said.
