Congress issues ultimatum over safety audit after cruise vessel fire
Panaji:
Congress gave a 15-day ultimatum to the Captain of Ports (CoP) to conduct a safety audit of all the vessels licenced to operate in the state's waters. Citing the early morning fire aboard a drifting cruise boat, state Congress president Amit Patkar claimed that the CoP department is inviting a man-made disaster by shirking safety norms.
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Patkar said that firefighting equipment remains absent on vessels that are currently operating in Goa's waterways, including on the river navigation department's ferries.
'We are giving the CoP and the shipping ministry 15 days to conduct a safety audit and structural audit for all the vessels that have got licences and put it in the public domain. Vessels that are not under IRS classification are actually supposed to be scrapped,' said Patkar.
He said that if the audit report is not released within 15 days, Congress would hold a protest outside the department office and 'force out the information'.
Congress has criticised the department's handling of the fire aboard the cruise vessel as well as an earlier fire onboard a ferry boat.
'The CoP tug should have a 30m range for the firefighting mechanism. But that tug could not fight a fire even on its own deck. This fire was a serious incident. Tomorrow, if another boat catches fire, how will they fight it in the middle of the river? Will they rely on firefighters on land to put out the fire?' said Patkar.
He said that the vessels that do not meet the Indian registrar of shipping classification or any other international classification should be seized and scrapped.
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