The tragic boat accident in Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur has sparked serious concerns over alleged possible negligence with the revelation that the cruise was allowed to enter the water despite a warning of strong winds issued by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) for the area on Wednesday, a day before the accident.
The death count in the boat capsizing rose to nine on Friday as rescuers pulled out three more bodies from the Bargi dam reservoir.
Tragedy struck on Thursday when the boat overturned during a sudden storm. The dam has been built on the Narmada River in Jabalpur district. Reports indicate that the ill-fated vessel had 2 crew members and 29 to 34 tourists on board at the time of the accident.
Survivors reveal gross negligence, no life jackets given
Sangeeta Kori, a tourist from Delhi, recounted the tragic accident, stating that sudden strong winds caused water to enter the vessel, leading to panic as people scrambled to grab the life jackets, which were only given by operators when the water started entering.
She says, "No one was made to wear life jackets beforehand. When water started entering, they hurriedly distributed them, which caused chaos, and people started snatching them. Then the cruise capsized. There was a lot of negligence," she told PTI.
"The pilot of the boat wasn’t listening at all. People from the village were shouting and signalling him to bring the cruise to a safer side, but he kept going the same way, which caused it to overturn suddenly. My brother broke open the storeroom and quickly threw life jackets to people," she added.
Weather warning ignored
The weather department had issued an advisory a day earlier, warning of strong winds of 40-50 kmph in Jabalpur. Despite the alert, the cruise was allowed to enter the water at around 4:30 pm on Thursday, a decision that is now being questioned in the wake of the incident.
The tourism department, which operates the facility, is now under scrutiny. The cruise service at Bargi Dam has been operational since 2006 as part of water-based tourism activities.
At the site, 2 cruises, 1 houseboat and 1 mini cruise are run. Each cruise has a capacity of up to 60 people. Reports indicate that the ill-fated vessel had 2 crew members and 29 to 34 tourists on board at the time of the accident.
Rescue operations on, grief-stricken families by shore
So far, around 22 people have been rescued safely, while more than 9 are still reported missing. The cruise remains sunk nearly 20 metres underwater. The accident occurred about 300 metres inside the dam from the shore.
The Jabalpur collector and Superintendent of Police, along with SDRF (State Disaster Response Force) and other rescue teams, are present at the site while grief-stricken families break down in tears as authorities pull out bodies from the water.
"My son and wife are missing. I got hurt when the mirror on the cruise boat broke after hitting a wave. The staff did not provide us with life jackets; we arranged them and distributed them ourselves," another survivor said.
With clear weather warnings in place, questions are now being raised over why permission was granted for the cruise to operate, and whether adequate safety protocols were followed.
