If our enchanting waterfalls are part of tourism, then safeguards cannot be ignored
Goa witnessed another heartbreaking tragedy in its hinterlands when a 17-year-old Class XI science student from a higher secondary school in Headland Sada, Mormugao, drowned at the Tonir-Kajredhat waterfall in Savarde, Sattari. The school had organised a trekking expedition to Sattari as part of an educational outing. The group, consisting of 23 students and four teachers, had reportedly engaged tour guides. Following police investigations, four teachers from the school have been booked and two tour guides arrested. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said that action would be taken against all those responsible.
The Tonir-Kazredhat Waterfall is located in the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary. As per the rule, prior permission is needed to enter the sanctuary area. The waterfall has been declared a restricted area by the Forest Department due to dangerous terrain, uncertainty over the depth of the fall and unpredictable undercurrents. Not that the school did not take precautions. They engaged a tour operator, but the tour agency had not obtained the relevant permission required from the Forest Department to enter any wildlife sanctuary.
The District Collector, North, immediately sought a report from the Forest Department regarding the incident. He has asked the Forest Department why there was no barricading and no deployment of Forest Department guards/personnel at the site. The Collector also asked for details of the safety measures taken by the department at waterfalls in its jurisdiction.
Prima facie, the student’s death reflects a systemic lapse in risk management during the monsoon. Over the past few years, Sattari and other hinterland talukas have witnessed multiple drowning fatalities at rivers, abandoned quarries and waterfalls. This latest incident adds to a troubling series of drownings, including that of a 20-year-old in the Mhadei River at Bhironda and a teenager at Delta waterfall in Surla. The tragedy has also raised renewed concerns regarding the safety of student excursions to remote waterfalls and rivers during the monsoon. Local residents and the panchayat, apprehending such incidents, had raised the issue of safety in the past. They had also demanded proper coordination between government departments and agencies such as the Tourism Department, Water Resources Department, Forest Department, Revenue Department, etc, so that picnics do not end in tragedies. Goa requires a structured, regulated safety framework.
This incident also brings to the fore how safety hardly gets attention from the government. We spend crores of rupees to promote tourism. However, when tourists or locals visit waterfalls, is the government not responsible for putting in place some safety measures at these sites? Enforcing a safety regulatory mechanism may not be the responsibility of just one department and may require the involvement of multiple departments. For example, in June, we saw notices regarding visits to waterfalls issued by the District Collectorate, Forest Department, Goa Forest Development Corporation, etc. Those interested in visiting waterfalls find this confusing. Why can’t these departments and agencies, along with the Tourism Department, come out with one single advisory? Also, how many waterfalls have notices explaining the contour of the fall and the dangers involved? How many have lifeguards with proper safety equipment? Is there any arrangement in case some visitor falls ill, gets injured or gets caught in a whirlpool? For all this, the government must take the local panchayat into confidence. Locals will provide expert inputs for the government to come out with a plan for each waterfall frequented by visitors. What is also required is a strict Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for all educational excursions.
