Avoiding tragedies

When avoidable tragedies strike, the anger and outrage that follows is crucial to hold authorities accountable for their inaction. For more than 40 madrassah students in Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), January 29 was supposed to be a memorable day as they were on a trip to Tanda Dam. But who knew that the day would bring indescribable tragedies for them. Fifty-two people, including children and madrassah staff, died when their boat capsized. Initial reports suggest that the 20-25-seat, ill-fated boat was overloaded. Most children were aged between seven and 14 years and did know how to swim. One of the rescued children said that the lake water was too cold, numbing his body. This indicates that the harsh weather conditions also prevented children and the adults accompanying them from saving their lives, if it was possible. After the tragic incident, rescue delays also resulted in a high death toll. Rescue teams arrived late and were short of staff (divers).

Eyewitnesses have said that the children were not wearing any life jackets – a necessary safety standard. We need to ask why the students were allowed to board the boat without safety jackets and why the boat was allowed to be filled beyond capacity. This case, unfortunately, is not the first one. Last year, 18 women died when an overloaded boat carrying 100 people of the same family capsized. It is indeed quite shocking that the government had not taken any action since the last unfortunate incident. There have to be strict regulations when it comes to arranging picnics for students. Parents trust school administrations and these supervisors are responsible for ensuring children’s safety. Ideally, tourist boats – especially when children are on board – should not be at full capacity as a preventive measure. Companies/individuals in charge of boat tours should go through rigorous checks and must be heavily fined if they are found to be guilty of any oversight.

The January 29 incident cannot be reversed but can serve as a stark reminder of the gross negligence of boat operators and the government. The fact that rescue teams took more than three days to locate bodies also shows the need to overhaul our emergency-response system. What we can now do is to force our government to take adequate measures to prevent such accidents in the future. First, all tourist boats should go through fitness checks. Second, boat operators should be strictly ordered to not fill the boat to their capacity, especially if children are on board. Third, there should be an adequate number of divers on site – and people should not be left on their own, waiting for rescue teams for hours. Officials from law-enforcement agencies should be posted near tourist spots during the period when the government imposes a ban on any tourist activities near the lake or other high-risk spots. Our justified anger should be directed at authorities who once again failed to protect the lives of children.