2 years of Harni boat tragedy: Families move district consumer forum for Rs 1-cr compensation each from school

The petitions were filed on January 17, just a day before the families marked the second year of the tragedy on Sunday– gathering outside the sealed premises of the Harni Lake</strong&gt; Zone and mourning the loss of their loved ones.

In their petitions, the parents of 11 deceased students have stated that there has been “clear and evident deficiency in service” as defined under the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, on part of the school, which had organised the picnic for which “consideration (of Rs 750) was paid and (the service) rendered in a manner that was not only imperfect and faulty but also illegal and fatally dangerous, leading to the death of the complainants’ children.”

The petitions, citing the penalty of Rs 10,000 imposed on the school by the District Education Officer for violation of rules while organising the picnic, also states that the school fundamentally breached its “fiduciary duty” and the sacred doctrine of ‘loco parentis’ (in place of a parent).

“By taking custody of the child for the picnic, the school assumed the role of a parent and was expected to exercise a degree of care that a prudent parent would. Its actions demonstrate a complete and shocking abandonment of this duty,” the petitions state. The petitions also state that the future of the complainants has been “rendered dark and desolate”.

Advocate Hitesh Gupta, who is representing the families, said, “In our petition, we have asserted that the school collected money from the parents but did not disclose the lack of permissions and inherent risks, amounting to unfair trade practices as it involved deceptive practices for the purpose of promoting its services.”

On Sunday, the grieving families of the victims of the boat tragedy gathered outside the lake zone and expressed their anguish at the “delayed pace of justice”. The families were joined by Congress leaders as well as Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) corporator Ashish Joshi, who was suspended from the BJP on grounds of indiscipline after two mothers of the deceased students had interrupted an event of Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel in May last year. The families also distributed blankets to visually-impaired persons at the Lake Zone.

Joshi said, “It has been two years today since the tragedy and the pain of the families is yet to subside as they await justice. We will continue to fight to bring the perpetrators of this tragedy to book… The petition in the consumer commission is an attempt to make the school accountable for its negligence in the case. The petition is signed by 11 students’ families. One of the families who lost its child is based in London and was unable to sign the petition.”

Gupta added that in the suo motu PIL in the case that is being heard in the Gujarat High Court, notice has been issued to the insurance company of M/s Kotia Projects– the contractor of the Lake Zone at the time of the tragedy of January 2024. In July 2025, the Supreme Court had directed that the compensation amount of Rs 1.2 crore deposited by M/s Kotia Projects should be disbursed to the families of the victims and also considered the submission of the contractor and granted liberty to M/s Kotia to seek impleadment of the partners and insurance company in the ongoing PIL before the Gujarat HC.

Sub Divisional Magistrate and Deputy Collector, Vadodara, who was appointed by District Collector of Vadodara to compute a compensation, had, in February 2025, calculated a compensation of Rs 31.75 lakh for the 12 deceased children while the two deceased teachers — Chhaya Surti and Falguni Patel– have been awarded a compensation of Rs 11.21 lakh and Rs 16.68 lakh, respectively. On January 18, 2024, the students of New Sunrise School had boarded one of the motorised boats that were deployed by the contractor at the Harni Motnath lake and operated by a boatman, who had no pre-requisite qualification to run a motorised boat, according to the report of the Special Investigation Team of the Vadodara police. The capsize of the boat had killed 12 students and two teachers due to possible overcrowding up to 250 kilograms. The SIT had arrested 20 persons in the case, including partners of M/s Kotia Projects, contracted by the Vadodara Municipal Corporation for the redevelopment project of the lake. All accused are currently out on bail.