Goa: Days after cruise boat blaze, Cong demands fire audit of vessels in Mandovi River

Panaji, Jun 2 (PTI) The Congress on Monday demanded a fire audit of vessels operated in the Mandovi River, days after a passenger cruise boat anchored at the Betim jetty near Panaji caught fire.

A major blaze broke out aboard the boat in the wee hours of Saturday, causing it to drift dangerously close to offshore casino ships. No casualty was reported.

The swift intervention of a Captain of Ports (CoP) tugboat helped avert a potential disaster.

Goa Pradesh Congress Committee president Amit Patkar claimed that in the absence of firefighting equipment, the burning vessel had to travel about a nautical mile to reach Panaji from across the river.

"A potential disaster was averted as the incident occurred in the wee hours in the absence of passengers. Luckily, the boat didn't hit casino vessels anchored in the Mandovi river basin in Panaji," he told reporters on Monday.

Patkar said in the absence of a fire control facility inside the river, water tankers of Fire and Emergency Services had to be dependent on land fire brigades to extinguish the fire.

"The state government should conduct a fire audit of all vessels plying in the Mandovi River. The recent incident shows the government's apathy towards the safety of people and tourists," he said.

Alleging that several vessels are plying without proper registration, Patkar demanded that the Captain of the Ports Department provide a list of registered boats permitted to operate in the river. PTI RPS NSK