Vithaldas Hegde
Vhegde3@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: Refuting the claim of the boat owner, one of the survivors of Wednesday’s Calangute boat tragedy told O Heraldo that the vessel was clearly overloaded when it capsized off the beach, leaving one person dead and several others injured.
Vishal Chinchvelkar, the survivor who is now attending to his family members admitted to Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMC), said, “We were all screaming for help, I was holding on to my four-year-old son, who was gulping the sea water as he tried to breathe. I have seen his (boat owner Anthony Coutinho) video. He is lying, as there were more than 20 people in the boat. The accident happened when the boat was taking a turn to come back to the shore. We were first hit by a huge wave and got wet. Then, while taking a turn, another wave hit us and the boat capsized.” The boat had a carrying capacity of 10 passengers and two boat operators.
Chinchvelkar, who boarded the boat with 12 of his family members, added that the boat operators did not give life jackets to the two minors in the group. “I asked for life jackets for the minors, but the person who was issuing tickets said that life jackets would be given to them inside the boat, but this did not happen,” he said.
He remembered that his father was unwilling to board the overcrowded boat, but the family did not want to miss the joyride. The family from Khed, Maharashtra, was on its way to Tirupati when they decided to stop in Goa on the way and visit Calangute beach.
The lifeguards brought everyone to the shore, but Vishal’s brother-in-law Suryakant Pophalkar was declared brought dead at the Candolim primary health centre. “My parents, son and sister were referred to GMC, Bambolim, for treatment. My mother and sister are unaware of Suryakant’s death. The government should help us as the boat owner cheated us by overloading it. My brother-in-law Suryakant was the only earning member in the family.”
Boat NOC
suspended,
2 arrested
Team Herald
Calangute: The Captain of Ports on Thursday suspended the operating NOC of the boat that sank off Calangute beach on Wednesday, claiming the life of Suryakant Pophalkar, a tourist from Khed, Ratnagiri.
The boat was registered in the name of Meena Coutinho, and the Panjim coastal police station has registered an offence against her. Two crew members of the boat were also arrested on Thursday.
In an order suspending the NOC, the Captain of Ports said: “As per FIR lodged with Goa police, it is noticed that the complainant has stated that 12 of her family members and extra passengers totalling 18-20 were present on board when the mishap occurred. On examination of your NOC it is found that your boat passenger capacity is max 10+2 crew. Since this seems to be a case of overloading… the operating NOC for your vessel is hereby suspended with immediate effect.”
According to Sarika, who lost her husband Suryakant, the boat was overcrowded and the driver of the boat was drunk.
Meanwhile, most of the watersports operators at Calangute halted their operations on Thursday. “It’s not been officially stopped. It's been kept closed because we wanted to tell the watersports operators to follow rules and regulations,” Calangute MLA Michael Lobo said during an interaction with watersports operators.