Experts call for formulating robust water transport policy

A strong water transport policy with an effective implementation and a culture of compliance and awareness is required to end the frequent inland water transport tragedies occurring in the country.
The suggestion was brought out by a 'Risk Assessment Workshop on Inland Passenger Boat Safety' here.
Presenting papers at the workshop organised by EMS Study and Research Centre, experts opined that the country lacked a strong public policy regarding water transport. It stated that both urban and rural water transport were confined to a few pockets like Kerala, Goa and Assam.
As Delhi was not in the picture of water transport, no serious attempts had been made to come out with a policy on Inland Water Transport at neither the central nor the state levels, they said at the workshop organised in wake of many boat tragedies in Kerala backwaters.

"We need a policy and we need a strong and consistent single Act and very clear roles for the regulators. This is not happening currently," Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) Managing Director Elias George, IAS, said.
George, also an expert on water transport system, flayed the "buck passing" game that starts after every boat tragedy, particularly in Kerala.

"This has to be stopped," George said, adding that KMRL, which is implementing a Rs 741-crore integrated water transport project in and around Kochi, will come up with a white paper on water transport for the state government's consideration.
George, a senior bureaucrat, also noted that the water transport department allocates a meagre Rs 1 crore or 2 crores a year from the plan funds.

"There is no money for...So the services get reduced. People stop using it. There is no reliability and frequency of boat services. We need big investments in terms of dredging, good jetties and modernised boats," he said.
Inaugurating the workshop, former Rajya Sabha M P P Rajeeve said constructive approaches were required to put an end to frequent boat accidents.
"Society should intervene constructively and positively to avert another boat tragedy. Politicians, experts and common public should work in this direction," he said.