Hazardous river routes

The ministry undertook the job of assessing the level of turbulence of different rivers back in May 2001. It drew a clear picture of the danger associated with the movement of river vessels on certain routes and issued the necessary directives to the launch owners. But the owners are not going by the rules and launches are still operating on the dangerous routes. The danger is actually multiplied when nor'westers strike regularly during the months of April and May.

The report is another example of how the safety of launch passengers is being ignored, despite the launch disasters that took place in the recent years. The disasters brought to light the casualness and technical incompetence of launch operators which make launch journeys on some routes extremely perilous. The shipping ministry responded to public demand by framing a set of rules, concentrating primarily on compliance with navigational rules and removal of structural faults of the vessels. There was an attempt to stop operation of launches having faulty designs by placing them in different categories. But the rules alone could not bring about the desired changes. Launch operators continue to run their business with the same kind of disregard for the safety of passengers.

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Identification of the turbulent river routes was certainly needed to make launch journeys safer, particularly during the season of nor'westers. But the move won't pay any dividends as long as the launch operators flout the rules with impunity. We, however, believe that ensuring compliance with the rules should not be a particularly difficult task in this case, since the details of the turbulent routes have been given by the ministry and launch operators know where the danger lies.

The authorities cannot brook such violation of rules if they really believe that the safety of passengers is a matter of great importance. They must make sure that passenger launches, most of which are not capable of absorbing any kind of turbulence, do not ply the routes known to be hazardous, unless certified by the authorities as being fit for doing so.