Gujarat HC pulls Vadodara municipal corporation for inaction over boat tragedy

A boat carrying students and teachers out on a picnic capsized in Harni Lake in Vadodara on January 18, killing 12 students and two teachers, while 18 students and two teachers were rescued

The Gujarat high court on Monday pulled up the Vadodara Municipal Corporation over the Harni boat tragedy, urging the implementation of a water body management policy and accountability measures for officials in such incidents.

A crane pulls out the boat which capsized in Harni Lake carrying children and teachers who were on a picnic, in Vadodara. (Reuters photo)

The court was hearing a suo motu PIL (public interest litigation) in the January 18 incident where a boat carrying students and teachers capsized in Harni Lake in Vadodara, killing 12 students and two teachers, while 18 students and two teachers were rescued.

Advocate general Kamal Trivedi provided a concise summary of the events, stating that a distress call regarding the Harni Lake boat capsizing was received by the Vadodara district police control room around 4:45pm, prompting immediate action by the Harni police control room, who arrived at the scene by 4:49pm to initiate rescue efforts.

He continued that upon receiving a call at 4:40 pm, the Vadodara Municipal Corporation’s rescue team, led by a fire officer, swiftly responded with around 40-50 rescuers, deploying boats and equipment, alongside bystanders.

The division bench of chief justice Sunita Agarwal and justice Aniruddha P Mayee remarked that people often remain in a state of denial until a tragedy strikes, believing such incidents will never happen.

“You may have taken a hundred corrective measures (after the incident), but that is not enough. We want to know how you were operating prior to the incident. Is anybody in the corporation accountable or not?”, the court asked when the civic body’s lawyer about measures taken after the incident.

He said an internal inquiry attributed negligence to 19 persons, including boat operators, for allowing more passengers than the boat’s capacity of 14 persons, resulting in the tragedy where 30 people were onboard without enough life jackets.

“What is the duty of the corporation (VMC)? They give contracts to private people and forget about it? Do they supervise or give any instructions to the contractor?” justice Agarwal said.

The court emphasised that civic bodies cannot simply contract out public utilities and then neglect to supervise the private entities responsible for their management.

“Aren’t the civic bodies checking if the private contractors are following the norms or not? These water bodies are to be looked after by the corporation. We aren’t against the use of such bodies for amusement, but the civic bodies need to keep a check. There must be some instructions, accountability, and supervision,” the bench remarked.

The internal report, according to Trivedi, suggested that on two accounts before the Harni Lake incident, the contractor was given instructions.

“If he was not following instructions given by the corporation, then why was he continuing? Was any show-cause notice issued to him? This is only an eyewash on the corporation’s part. We will be calling the affidavit of the corporation also. The municipal commissioner is answerable for that as this is within the jurisdiction of the VMC,” observed Justice Agarwal.

AG Trivedi told the bench that the initial contract between the contractor and the VMC was signed in 2017.

“We want to know the terms of the contract. All this is just an eyewash,” the bench observed.

The court called for a government policy applicable to all water bodies in the state that are being used for amusement purposes.

“If you are framing a policy, accountability is the first step. A contractor is a contractor, but accountability is of the officer of the corporation,” it said.

The court wanted to know whether it was also applicable to lakes in the forest areas like Nal Sarovar Lake, where people are ferried in boats without a life jacket.

During the hearing, senior advocate Trusha Patel, who was appointed as an amicus to assist the court, submitted her suggestions which included proper compensation to kin of the deceased students and teachers. She submitted that even the contractor who was booked in the case, must be made liable to pay compensation to the victims’ families.

In response to the suggestion of granting government jobs to the family members of the deceased, chief justice Agarwal remarked that while acknowledging the aspirations and potential of the victims, government jobs cannot be offered in such circumstances.

She highlighted that even the contractor involved in the incident did not possess the capacity to provide employment opportunities to the affected families, underscoring the limitations of such measures.

Four more arrested, six still on the run

The civic body has registered an FIR (first information report) in the case, accusing 19 persons, including people associated with private firm Kotia Projects, its sub-contractor and the boat operators, of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and attempt to commit culpable homicide under provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

On Monday, Vadodara police said they arrested four additional suspects, namely Nilesh Jain, Jatin Doshi, Neha Doshi, and Tejal Doshi.

It was revealed that about ten months ago, Kotiya Projects, the company contracted for managing the Lake Zone for a decade since 2017, sub-contracted the responsibility to Nilesh Jain without informing the other partners, making Jain effectively in charge of the day-to-day operations of the lake area, including employee supervision.

All the individuals arrested on Monday were partners in the Lake Side project and held some form of equity stake in it, said police.

The nine suspects previously arrested in connection with the Harni Lake boat accident are currently on remand.

The suspects disclosed that the main accused, Paresh Shah, and his son, Vatsal Shah, were the primary individuals managing the Lake Zone, police said.

So far, 13 suspects have been arrested and the police has formed different teams to nab the six suspects who are still at large.