THE 'JALAKANYAKA TRAGEDY'

September 30, 2009; was a day of agony, sorrow and mourning for the people of Kerala,"The Gods Own  Country." A tourist boat capsized in Thekkady lake, Kerala when 46 passengers drowned  (nearly half of them were children) and lost their lives.The double decker boat ‘Jalakanyaka’ operated by Kerala Tourism Development Corporation (KTDC). capsized at a depth of 40 to 50 feet in Periyar Lake, at Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary, Thekkady around 17:30 hrs IST. It was one of the major accidents in the history of Kerala, and the authorities were not prepared to face such a tragedy as it was sudden and unexpected.

The accident happened when the boat "Jalakanyaka" tilted after several tourists moved to one side on sighting elephants on the banks of the lake and the driver lost control. This happened around sunset making rescue operations dfficult. It was shocking to note that none of the passen gers were wearing life jackets and there were no prior instructions to passengers on safety aspects  by the boat crew before the journey. Also there were no life guards in the boat.

Drowning means death due to suffocation with or without aspiration of water while submerged in water.Near drowning means suffocation and asphyxia but with possible survival. Asphyxia due to submersion or hypoxia due to aspiration of water or a combination of both occur in drowning leading to death. Drowning can be either fresh water (well, lakes) or sea water.Also classified as dry or wet drowning. In dry drowning the victim is subjected to severe reflex laryngospasm and hypoxia following accidental contact with cold water and death is primarily due to asphyxia ( lungs are free of water). In wet drowning water enters the lung and cause alveolar flooding, alveolar edema, loss of surfactant, ventilation perfusion mismatch ,bronchospasm and hypoxia. Disruption of the alveolocapillary membranes lead on to ARDS.