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With the latest tragedy, up to 30 people have lost their lives in Hogenakal Falls this year. (Video below) |
Six members of a Chennai family, including two children, drowned after their coracle capsized in Hogenakkal on Sunday.
With the latest tragedy, up to 30 people have lost their lives in Hogenakal Falls this year.
Hogenakal Falls is a popular tourist attraction where people take long rides on bamboo coracles, which are inherently unstable. Many children and women in sarees, the worst garment to wear when you enjoy a water ride, are among the tourists who take to water.
Life jackets are worn out or not used at all, and most can't swim. The water is deep and the current strong. So, accidents happen frequently.
The local administration has installed buzzers to warn tourists about dangerous spots and blocked access to a hazardous hanging bridge. But the measures seem to have been inadequate and the local tourist operators and coracle boatmen, by and large, run the show without checks, fleecing visitors.
On Sunday's accident, one report said the boatman abandoned the coracle after water seeped in. Another said the coracle tilted after the tourists gathered for a selfie. Both the scenarios could have been avoided with an efficient administration.
It is time the Tamil Nadu and Karnataka governments replaced coracles with modern boats and kept a close watch on the area. Anymore accidents would be shameful.