NAVIN JHA
navin@herald-goa.com
VASCO: Every time they hop off their boats, back on terra firma, after a jaunt to any of the islands watching dolphins bouncing out of the water, tourists can look up and count their lucky stars, for having survived yet another dangerous trip.
The danger quite clearly, doesn’t lie in the waves or the depth of the ocean. It lies on the boat of the water sports operator. With hardly any or no life jackets, proper rescue ropes or tubes, every ride is a potential coffin.
Officially the instructions issued by the State Tourism Department is very clear that tour operators who conduct island and dolphin-watching trips should compulsorily have sufficient lifejackets and other safety equipment on their boats. While conducting any trips at sea, tourists onboard should compulsory wear life jackets.
Many tour operators conducting trips off the Baina coast do not take this law seriously and allow tourists without lifejackets during the journey in the sea.
This was revealed during an ground survey by Team Herald on Thursday morning where it was noticed (also video recorded) that the some tour operators from North Goa with three tourist boats reached Baina beach (not a designated site for such tours) at about 9.20 am to take three different groups of high-end international tourists (staying at some starred hotel in South Goa) on their boats for island and dolphin-watching trips at sea from Baina beach.
Foreign tourists hopped on the boats without any lifejackets. They got off the boats without any jackets at the end of the trip too.
As expected the crew members started the trip and the international tourists were not wearing lifejackets. When these boats returned from trip in the afternoon, these international tourists were again seen (also video recorded) not wearing lifejackets inside the waters as well as while they got down from the boats.
When the Herald reporter and photographer started grilling the boat crew members why they were not following the mandatory directions, the crew members blamed the tourists for not listening to them. Some even claimed that the tourists were wearing lifejackets but they removed them when the boat reached close to the shore.
“We are helpless as many times these tourists are not ready to listen to us and they refuse to wear lifejackets. We tell them but they don’t listen to us, still we are taking all precautions for their safety,” said a crew member. This explanation is just not believable.
Another crew member tried to explain that his passengers were wearing lifejackets while going but during the return journey refused to wear them. He, however, assured that he would take due precautions next time.
Raising serious concerns and demanding strict action against violators, Jayant Jadhav, a former Director in Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC) and a resident from Baina said, “If they are conducting such boat trips with all valid licenses, then, they should follow the rules of safety including wearing of lifejackets. They cannot operate from Baina beach without any jetty facility.”
Since the issue was related to tourists’ safety, Herald took up the matter with Tourism Director Menino D’Souza who said, “Our instructions are very clear on lifejackets. When they have tourists onboard then all tourists should wear lifejackets. If they say that tourists don’t listen to them then they should not operate at all. They can’t put somebody’s life at risk. We have been issuing warnings and fines to them on this issue and if they are repeated offenders then we will have to suspend their licenses. Since the issue has been brought to my notice, I assure that the department will act against such violations.”
