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Journalism of Courage
It was back in 1996 that Syed Ali Bepari of Monirgaon village under South Salmara police station in Dhubri district obtained registration for running SB Pancha-bhai in the Brahmaputra between Medartari-ghat and Dhubri. There is no record in the 16 years since then of whether the vessel involved in one of Assams worst boat tragedies underwent any inspection by officials an examination that is meant to be conducted annually.
Admitting this,Director of Assams Inland Water Transport (IWT) Department D Hazarika said: It is for the boat-owners to come back for renewal and fitness examination. It is however a fact that we do not have the necessary infrastructure and manpower to conduct annual fitness tests on our own.
With bodies of three children being fished out of the Brahmaputra,the toll in the disaster today rose to 106,even as search operations continued for over 100 missing people. Police said the final death toll could be around 250.
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi,who visited the site along with AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi,today promised to develop a river transport system in the state to check such incidents. He also urged police officers to take strong action against those who carry excess load in boats the double-decker SB Pancha-bhai was ferrying around 300 people.
However,its the lack of enforcement of rules such as these on the ground that was behind Mondays tragedy. While Bepari,who is absconding,had to get his permit for the boat renewed annually,with the IWT not bothering,neither did he. We are yet to ascertain when the boat had its last fitness test, said Dhubri SP P K Saloi.
While the IWT has its own fleet of 209 vessels running on 87 notified routes,there are an estimated 8,000 big and small mechanised boats and bhutbhutis (country boats fitted with water-pumps) plying on the Brahmaputra and other rivers in Assam,of which hardly about a thousand have proper permits.
The severely short-staffed IWT has only three ship surveyors to inspect these boats,and it cant conduct such examinations on its own. An IWT official said only 29 boats had registered or renewed permits in Dhubri between 2005 and 2012. SP Saloi put the number of unauthorised boats plying in Dhubri district alone at 30.
A proposal to establish an enforcement cell has been lying with the government for more than a year now, said D Choudhury,Deputy Director in the IWT.
Incidentally,just one week before the Dhubri tragedy,IWT Director Hazarika had sent a letter to the three executive engineers of his department listing seven points to ensure safety of boats and ferries in the state.
Most of the ferry services are operating in a very haphazard manner, wrote Hazarika on April 23. The first point he made in the letter dealt with overcrowding and overloading. The second said no passenger or vehicle should be allowed on the roof.
Not only was SB Pancha-bhai overloaded,but also had passengers on the roof.
IWT officials say a large number of boats also run with permits issued by local panchayats and zilla parishads,which are legally not valid.
