CHENNAI: Tension and chaos prevailed in the villages around Pulicat Lake after news of the tragic boat accident spread like wildfire. The villagers were visibly agitated alleging that the government had not formulated any rules or regulations for fishermen to operate boats for tourists in the lake despite the occurrence of several such incidents in the past.Fishermen living in 24 villages around the lake have been fishing in the lake and crossing it into the sea for more than 60 years. They claimed that it was because of the many tourists halting by the lake during holidays that the fishermen decided to make a quick buck by taking them around the scenic lake in their boats.A 20 minute trip to the island near the mouth of the sea could cost Rs 350, while a one-hour trip covering 18 kilometres to reach close to the mouth of the sea could cost Rs 550. All this, however, has been happening for more than two decades without any government interference or regulation, despite a similar accident that claimed the lives of 26 school children taking place at the same spot in 1994, the villagers claimed.“The fishermen just call whoever visits the lake and take them around. The tourists are not given any life jackets. There is not even a government tourism office, let alone boats. Tourism department boats come only during festivals and weekends,” said James, a villager.“The last major incident was in the mid-1990s when more than 20 school children died. Since then, many incidents of drowning were reported where two or three persons would die. Police would record the incident, warn the fishermen and go away.There is no follow up after that,” he quickly added. Fishermen claimed they had been trying to get the attention of the government so they could get permission.“We have been trying for the past one year to get permission from the government but nothing has happened so far. Fishermen usually go out in the nights for fishing and operate their boats for tourists in the day time,” said Suman, another fisherman.They claimed that there were more than 1,000 fibreglass motor boats and they take tourists after they return from fishing. In the same breath, they said that they do not exceed a maximum of 15 tourists in a single boat as they know it would be risky.“I am a survivor of one such incident that took place in the same area. Out of four people, only two of us survived.So, we know it is risky to take too many tourists and taking them to a restricted area is even more risky. Even we are afraid to do such things,” said L Desappan, another fisherman.
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