Dharmapuri: The second tragedy in five years leading to the death of six people in a coracle mishap on Sunday has exposed the lack of safety measures in the popular picnic spot at Hogenakkal, Dharmapuri district.
Six people, including a 10-month-old girl and a 2-year-old boy of a family drowned when they were being ferried on the Cauvery river for sightseeing.
The tragedy exposes once again that safety measures have not been followed even after a similar tragedy took place in 2010.
On May 24, 2010, D. Ravi Chandaran, 45, S. Deva Antony Victor, 38, C. Hari Krishna,15 and 18-month-old P. Sri Varsh, who were in a party of picnickers from Chennai drowned in a coracle mishap.
Three coracle operators were arrested — R. Sankar, 38, S. Babu, 35 and M. Chakravarthi, 32, of Ootamalai, near Hogenakkal in Pennagaram taluk of Dharmapuri.
After the incident, the Dharmapuri district administration took various measures including a system of compulsory life the jackets was introduced for the safety of picnickers on the Cauvery.
The fresh tragedy exposed the fact that no drives have been undertaken against coracle operators not following safety norms.
A TTDC officer, on condition of anonymity, denied the charges saying safety norms are being followed by licensed coracle operators.
Only other coracle operators fail to follow the measures leading to incidents like the Sunday tragedy.
Coracle operators differ from the TTDC saying that around 300 licensed coracle operators are in Hogenakkal but only about 150 availability of life jackets are below 150 in number.
It is with no other option that the picnickers are being ferried without following the safety measures.
Coracle services suspended
The Dharmapuri collector K. Vivekanandan has ordered to stop coracle services till further orders. The suspension follows the Sunday tragedy in which two people have died and four others are missing in the Cauvery. A probe will also be conducted to find what caused the mishap as a coracle capsized. The team appointed for the probe would also check why the coracle operator ferried the victims without life jackets. He said sufficient life jackets are available at the counter where people buy tickets for coracle service. Around 1,500 people have used life jackets on Sunday, according to the records available at the respective counter.
