Thoothukudi: Overloading of the fibre boat with no safety gadgets was the primary reason for the boat tragedy that claimed ten lives in Manapad sea off Tiruchendur coast in Thoothukudi district on Sunday. Around 42 men, women and children, who attended the ‘Mahashivarathri’ festival at the Alagamman temple in nearby Padugapaththu village on Sunday, had hired a fibre glass boat for a jolly ride, sources said. The day being ‘Amavaasya (new moon day)’ the sea was rough and the heavily overloaded boat, that is usually capable of taking maximum of 20 persons-, was hit by a strong tide and tossed in the air before it capsized in the sea.
Though the spot where the tragedy occurred was shallow with a maximum depth of around two-meters, many of the women and children were fatally drowned. According to Karthikeyan of Tiruchy, who saved four persons but lost his wife Suganya in the tragedy, many drowned as they got entangled in a fishing net.
The local country craft fishers’ leader, Kayos, however, agreed that the prime accused in the tragedy were the boat owner and the boatman. He added that on the instruction of the police the fishermen leaders of Manapad hamlet have imposed a ban on their fishermen for using the boats for ferrying tourists. “Still some of our men fall prey to the amount offered by the tourists for the jolly ride,” said Kayos, who showed sign boards put up by the villagers themselves warning the tourists from taking bath in the sea or hiring fishing boat for fun trips in the sea.
