Highly fraught with risk!

Ferry service between North and South Bank in Guwahati

By our Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, July 3: He that cannot obey cannot command! The ferry service between North and South banks in Guwahati is in for such a situation. If the sailors do not obey the safety norms meant for them, how can they make passengers obey the rules?

The situation is very close to the danger level on Monday. The water level of the Brahmaputra is rising fast, about to cross the danger level tonight. It read 49.15 metres at 4 pm in Guwahati on Monday. The danger level is 49.68 metres. However, the situation is fraught with risk as safety rules are not being followed. Though it is not clear as to who is to be blamed for the non-adherence to rules, it is certain that in the event of any vessel or boat mishap, passengers and crew members will be at the receiving end. That may stir up the hornets’ nest – one passing the buck on the other.  

There are a lot of rules that have to be obeyed so as to make water transport safe. Such rules are very important for water transport in a river like the Brahmaputra whose masculine current leaves little chance for survival in the event of boat and vessel mishaps. What is seen now in the ferry service makes one get goosebumps. The passengers are supposed to sit on seats meant for them under the roof. According to safety norms, under no circumstances they should be allowed to travel by standing on the roof. However, in case of the State Water Transport Department such rules are bright only in the rule book, not for their application on the ground. As if these are a set of ‘ground rules’ not meant to be applied ‘on the ground’. Stretching rules, bending rules and dumping rules are very common in Assam.

However, it is yet to be ascertained as to who are responsible for this utter non-adherence to rules in ferry service – the department concerned or the passengers themselves. Be that as it may, it is certainly a major failure on the part of the department to adhere to safely norms.

Not following rules looks like a fashion these days for a section of passengers. When asked on their sitting atop the roof instead of sitting on seats meant for them, one of the passengers, said: “We feel more secure to stand on the rooftop of the boat than sitting on seats arranged under it. Standing here, we can at least try to save ourselves by swimming or otherwise. If we sit on the seats under it, we may drown along with the boat, and may not come out.”

Strangely enough, none of the passengers was seen wearing life-jacket – which is a must for every passenger. Should one blame the passengers, the crew members or the department for this?

The State Inland Water Transport Department has only 13 vessels with it in the five main parghats in the city. However, there are around 45 private motorboats ferrying passengers between North and South banks in Guwahati.      

An official source said: “People have to be conscious. There was a time when a number of boats, licensed or otherwise, were allowed to ferry passengers. Gone are those days. License and insurance are strictly checked nowadays. Equipment like lifejackets, lifebuoys, etc., are mandatory for every vessel or motorboat. We work in accordance with the means given by the department. If we’re to catch a motorboat ferrying passengers without following safety norms, we need to have a vessel that runs faster than the motorboat. We did take the service of river police also to check the mece, but to no avail. If the police can’t control the violation of traffic rules on roads, how come one expects us to control the erring sailors in water? One needs to look at things from such angles as well. Keeping a watch on the rising water level of the river, the ferry service may be banned tomorrow. Meanwhile, the Guwahati-Kuruwa ferry service has been banned.”