The death toll in the Narmada Queen capsize in Madhya Pradesh’s Jabalpur rose to 11 on Saturday as divers recovered two bodies of children from the Bargi Dam, as the boat’s helmsman, Mahesh Patel, broke his silence and defended himself against accusations.
He said that when the situation began to worsen, he alerted the Boat Club control room.
Patel said he was shocked that people were blaming him, saying he jumped only after all the passengers were off the cruise, HT reported earlier.
While survivors earlier alleged that their request to turn around as strong winds began to blow was ignored, Patel defended himself against the accusations, saying he turned the boat around immediately after the winds started blowing. Speaking to NDTV, he said, “God is my witness, no one told me that the wind was picking up, take the boat back to shore.”
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“I immediately turned the boat around, but the storm intensified rapidly, waves began crashing over the deck, and water started flooding into the vessel,” he added.
One of the survivors alleged that the pilot and the crew abandoned the ship before it capsized, leaving passengers to fend for themselves.
Patel, however, refuted the allegation and said, “The cruise sank within a few seconds after riders rushed to one spot to collect life jackets. Even I was rescued by locals after an hour of the tragedy.”
In fact, Patel said that he was the last one to jump from the boat.
The helmsman also told the TV channel that he called the reception desk, requesting that another boat be dispatched, warning them of an imminent accident. After alerting the desk, he said they began helping the passengers put on their life jackets.
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However, videos from the incident show passengers being given life jackets, though many alleged that it was not until it was already too late that the life jackets were brought on the deck.
Patel, who said he has 20 years of experience, has been ferrying the boat six times a day for years. “I never saw such an incident. It was nature’s fury,” he was cited in an earlier HT report.
‘They were enjoying despite intense waves’
The helmsman also said that he had asked passengers to wear life jackets and even tried to secure the vessel as the storm hit.
However, he claimed that even when the boat began taking on water, some passengers were dancing. “At that critical moment, I was unable to anchor it. We were just 50 to 60 metres from the shore when it capsized,” Patel added.
He told NDTV that people were enjoying themselves despite the intense waves. “What am I supposed to do?” he asked. According to Patel, people “often refuse” to put on life jackets on cruises.
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Additionally, Patel told the news channel that on the day of the incident, only two crew members — himself and another assistant — were on duty, whereas the boat normally had three crew members, a pilot and two assistants.
Was Patel, the boat’s pilot, also unaware of the weather alert? According to the Jabalpur weather office, a yellow alert for heavy rain was issued for Thursday. “The alert of thunderstorm with gusty winds of 40-50 km per hour has been sent to all the district meteorological offices on weather forecast on April 30 morning,” said Abhilasha Shrivastava, from the India Meteorological Department’s Bhopal unit.
“No, we were not apprised of the weather conditions. The accident occurred approximately half an hour after the cruise had commenced,” he told the news channel.
Ideally, pilots of such transports should be aware of the weather conditions. Survivors also said that the forecast should have kept the boat ashore.
However, Mahesh Patel expressed regret over the incident and said he had been unable to sleep or eat since the tragedy.
The tragedy at Bargi Dam
The Narmada Queen, a 90-passenger vessel operated by the MP tourism department and in service since 2006, was carrying more than 40 tourists on Thursday when a violent storm hit around 6pm.
Madhya Pradesh chief minister Mohan Yadav said 29 tickets had been issued, but a local rescuer said several more were allowed to board because it was the day’s last ride.
Rajesh Soni, a survivor who was on board with three family members, said the weather alerts should have prevented the boat from sailing, and that permission to sail despite the warnings “is a major lapse”.
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Another survivor, Sangeeta Kori, said the life jackets were not distributed at boarding, adding that they were just kept somewhere inside. When the crew tried to distribute it as water started to fill the vessel, the situation spiralled into panic and scuffles. Within minutes, the boat capsized, she was cited as saying in an earlier HT report.
Further, locals, who were on the shore, said they had reportedly been shouting at Patel to turn back for 15 to 20 minutes before the tragedy struck. However, their warnings went unheard, they added.