No life jacket, no boat ride in Chilika lake: Odisha govt

The Odisha government has decided to regulate operations of country boats in Chilika lake from Monday, officials said.

Odisha Chief Secretary A P Padhi today directed the district collectors of Puri and Khurda districts to ensure that each and every passenger wears a life jacket while undertaking a journey in any water body, including the Chilika lake.

He also asked the district authorities to ensure that all the boats operating in the lagoon must be registered under the Directorate of Ports and Inland Water Transport, an official said.

"The regulation will be implemented from Monday," the Collector of Puri, Aravind Agarwal, said.

A country boat carrying 15 passengers and two boat men had capsized in the Chilika lake on June 16, after it was caught in a thunderstorm accompanied by strong wind and rain.

Six women and children drowned in the incident.

The boats do not carry life-saving gadgets, though it is mandatory for them to have life jackets on board, Agarwal said.

Many boats also do not have valid registrations, fitness certificates and insurance coverage, he said.

"The tourists will be forced to use life-saving jackets. The boat operators will have to ask the tourists to go by the rules," Agarwal said.

More than 1,000 country boats ferry thousands of tourists in Chilika lake every day, he said.

The state government has also decided to install GPS in boats operating in the lagoon, said Commerce and Transport Minister Dr Nrusingha Charan Sahu in Bhubaneswar.

"In the report submitted by the Directorate of Ports and Inland Water Transport, installation of GPS in boats in Chilika has been proposed and we will take steps in this regard," the minister said.

He said the district collectors have been directed to appoint surveyors to ensure provision of lifebuoys, life jackets and fire extinguishers for boats.