The State government has ordered a comprehensive judicial investigation into the tourist boat accident at Tanur on Sunday evening, in which 22 people, including 15 children, died.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan visited Tanur on Monday and announced the judicial investigation. He said the State government would give ₹10 lakh to the family of each of the victim. The government will also bear the expenses of the treatment of the survivors, he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief at the loss of lives and announced an aid of ₹2 lakh to the family of each victim from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund.
The Chief Minister said a special team of the police would also conduct a parallel investigation into the tragedy.
“The loss is so grave and inconsolable. I am with the families of the victims in their bereavement,” said Mr. Vijayan.
He said technical experts would be included in the judicial commission to be constituted for a comprehensive inquiry into the tragedy that took place in the Poorapuzha estuary at Ottumpuram Thoovaltheeram between Tanur and Parappanangadi around 7 p.m. on Sunday.
Stringent measures would be taken to avoid recurrence of such tragedies. The government would examine if the guidelines were followed when giving licences for the boats, he said.
The Chief Minister arrived at Calicut International Airport, Karipur, by flight and visited Government Taluk Hospital at Tirurangadi, where the post-mortem of eight of the victims took place.
Mr. Vijayan visited Misbahul Uloom Madrasa at Puthankadappuram, Parappanangadi, and paid his respects to the victims. He later visited the survivors of the tragedy in hospitals.
The Chief Minister reviewed the situation at a meeting held at Tanur MLA’s office in which several Ministers, MLAs and political party leaders took part.
Minister for Sports V. Abdurahiman, Minister for Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes K. Radhakrishnan, Minister for Revenue K. Rajan, Minister for Fisheries Saji Cheriyan, Minister for Irrigation Roshy Augustine, Minister for Road Transport Antony Raju, Minister for Power K. Krishnankutty, Minister for Tourism and Public Works P.A. Mohammed Riyas, Minister for Port Ahamed Devarkovil, and Minister for Forest A.K. Saseendran, and MLAs P.K. Kunhalikutty, K.T. Jaleel, P. Nandakumar, Syed Abid Husain Thangal, P.K. Basheer, P. Abdul Hameed, K.P.A. Majeed, and N. Shamsuddin, CPI(M) State secretary M.V. Govindan, district secretary E.N. Mohandas, Indian Union Muslim League State president Syed Sadikali Shihab Thangal, district president Syed Abbasali Shihab Thangal, State secretary P.M.A. Salam, government chief secretary V.P. Joy, Director General of Police K. Anil Kant, Fire and Rescue Services head B. Sandhya, and District Collector V.R. Premkumar attended the meeting.
