Major boat tragedies in Kerala over last one decade

Thiruvananthapuram: The boat mishap at Kochi that claimed at least six lives on Wednesday was the fifth water tragedy in Kerala in the last over one decade. In January 2013, four tourists from Tamil Nadu died after a house-boat carrying tourists overturned in the backwaters at Alappuzha.

In Septmber 9, 2009, at least 45 tourists were killed in one of the worst tragedies in Kerala when a boat carrying tourists sank at the famous Periyar Thekkady lake. Earlier, on July 27, 2002, 29 passengers of a ferry drowned in the Vembanad lake when it capsized between Muhamma and Kumarakom in Kuttanad.

Another tragic mishap involving primary school children on an excursion occurred when their boat sank in a reservoir near Thattekkad bird sanctuary in Ernakulam district, killing 15 children and three teachers in 2007. Other boat accidents are the Periyar Boat mishap in Kochi that claimed four lives in 1992. Seven persons drowned when a boat capsized at Peppara Dam near here in 1991.

A state endowed with 44 rivers, backwaters and network of canals, water tourism is a major tourist attraction in Kerala. Another major water tragedy was in 1980 when a ferry carrying pilgrims of a local church at Kannamally near Kochi sank, claiming 29 lives.

In 1983, 18 persons drowned when a boat sank at Vallarpadam. In 1924, Mahakavi Kumaran Asan, one of the great poets of Kerala, was among 24 persons killed when a boat on its way from Kollam to Kottayam sank at Palana.