Thiruvananthapuram, May 8 (IANS) The Kerala BJP on Monday demanded the resignation of State Tourism Minister P.A.Mohammed Riyas after a boat tragedy in Malappuram district claimed 22 lives.
State BJP president K.Surendran said no proper action was taken after the Thekkady tragedy (took place in 2009 where 45 tourists mostly from outside the state drowned at the popular destination at Thekkady) .
"Riyas has to quit owning moral responsibility. Proper and timely action could have saved 22 precious lives. The only thing that happens in Kerala is rhetorics and advertisements . No action has been taken in the report of the Thekkady tragedy. There are no effective guidelines in operations of houseboats, which is claimed as Kerala’s USP ,” said Surendran.
"There is no system in place to prevent tragedies as none is interested in safety and security. We demand a proper probe followed by subsequent action,” said Surendran and thanked the Centre for sanctioning Rs 2 lakh each for the deceased.
Reportedly, the tragedy that occurred at Tanur in Malappuram last night could have been avoided had proper checks been conducted.
The boat-Atlantic was a modified fishing boat and the required safety protocols were not followed and recently its license was cancelled , only to be revoked quickly.
At the time of the incident, there were 40 people on board the ill-fated boat besides children .
Efforts are on to trace one person who is missing.
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