THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Despite periodic inspections by the police and maritime board, private boat clubs are mushrooming at Poovar, violating safety norms. As per the figures available from the District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC), more than 500 tourists, especially domestic tourists, visit the backwaters daily.
The proliferation of private boat clubs at Poovar has paved the way for several illegal boat services in the region. At present, 45 boat clubs are operating out of the Poovar and Pozhiyoor regions which conduct nearly 250 boat services as per official figures. Of these, more than 10% are operating illegally, and the numbers could be more. The only safety component for the tourists here is the life jackets, said the Poovar police.
According to Thingal Gopakumar, Poovar inspector of police, the police have booked 75 boat owners in the past year for not complying with the safety norms. “Many of the boats are operating without fitness and registration certificates. Normally, illegal boat services are operated when there is an uncontrollable inflow of tourists. However, we are inspecting the boat clubs periodically to ensure that the services are operated legally. In the wake of the boat tragedy at Tanur, we will intensify the inspection and conduct a raid in the coming days,” he said.
Meanwhile, a resident said that the illegal boat services could be curbed if there is weekly checking by the officials.
DTPC to set up pre-paid boating centre, checkpoint
The DTPC, in association with the maritime board, will soon set up a centralised prepaid counter and checkpoint to control illegal boat services at Poovar. “The DTPC had held a discussion with the Private Tourist Boat Association recently, and they are also of the view that no boats should operate illegally. There will also be a meeting in the coming days to formulate an action plan for setting up a centralised system and pre-paid counter to regulate the boat services. The Boat Operators’ Association has also supported it, said DTPC secretary Sharon Veettil.
There are also demands from several quarters to regularise and standardise the boat ticketing rates at Poovar. Earlier, there were complaints that boat operators were fleecing tourists.
Deadly figures