Team Herald
PANJIM: With the boat tragedy in Calangute claiming one life, tourism stakeholders said that there is an urgent need to follow guidelines and monitor every boat used for watersports activities.
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Speaking to O Heraldo, Travel and Tourism Association of India (TTAG) President Jack Sukhija said, “There is lacunae everywhere and this incident was waiting to happen. A life has been lost and it is a serious thing. There is no reason why there should not be life jackets. In today’s age there is no reason not to have safety equipment.”
Former TTAG president Nilesh Shah said, “Safety is paramount in any adventure activity. I think it is high time that water sports are regularised. We have told earlier also there are many operators who are operating without following safety standards. We must take lessons from the incident which happened recently in Mumbai where the life jackets were allegedly not adequate. Similarly, in this incident also I do not know whether the lifejackets were there or not. There should be stringent measures taken to ensure that the boats are not overcrowded.”
Cavelossim Sarpanch Dixon Vaz said, “There must be proper facilities where these sort of activities are held. There must be safety equipment on the board and also carrying capacity of the boats should also be taken into account. Most importantly there must be zones and guidelines are followed. There has to be a dock, temporary or permanent. Only framing guidelines is not enough. Those guidelines need to be followed,” he said.
“Every single trip has to be followed. It must be ensured that those who are operating the boat are trained properly. It must be found out why the particular incident has occurred and why similar kinds of incidents are happening in that area,” Vaz said.
