LISA ANN MONTEIRO
PANJIM: It was a harrowing experience for a Mumbai tourist parasailing at Colva Beach on Saturday when the motorboat operating the parasail ran out of fuel.
A few seconds after being lifted up by the parasail, Parul Thakkar aged 39, a resident of Mumbai found herself falling into the sea. Thakkar, a non-swimmer, said she was petrified when she fell in the water and tried to hold onto the parasail operator who had also fallen. But he refused to help her. “Don’t hold on to me or else we will both drown,” he said.
Thakkar was rescued and brought to the shore.
The owner of Maria Water Sports operating the parasail showed no concern and offered no apology the family for the negligence.
“These things happen. Now, she’s all right so what’s the problem,” he rudely told Vishal, Thakkar’s son.
His arrogance didn’t end there. When Sydney Fernandes, PSI, Tourist Police South Coastal Belt demanded to know what had happened and asked for the licence, the boat operator refused and instead issued threats to the inspector.
“This is the second time you’re approaching me. I’ll take you to court. Where’s the problem? Show me a complaint in writing and then we’ll see,” he brazenly said.
In fact water sports operators talking insolently to the police is a regular feature at the beach.
When Fernandes and Thakkar asked the owner to get the motor boat operator to shore, he refused to do so. Fernandes then asked Thakkar to register a complaint but she declined saying they were leaving the State shortly and didn’t have time to spend at the police station.
“We heard them talking about the fuel being less but then they said everything was ok. When I went up the parasail operator suddenly asked me whether I wanted a dip in the water, but I refused. Then before I knew what was happening we were falling into the sea. I was so afraid,” Thakkar narrated.
Fernandes says similar incidents happen every other day on the beach.
“Many water sports operators bring in more boats than they have licenses for. They don’t show us the license of the boat operator in spite of repeatedly asking for it. They don’t follow any safety precautions or provide any first aid. Tourists when they are injured don’t file complaints as they are in the State for a short period only. So this makes it difficult to pin them down.”
