The tragic deaths of a woman participant and an employee of tourism department in the Pahalgam rafting incident could have been avoided had in-charge officials not permitted joy rides to their kin after closing time of the adventure activity, official sources revealed.
Experts say hiring well-trained professional guides bycommercial rafters might have been able to save the precious lives, maintaininghowever that risks are inherent in any adventure sport.
Ironically, the two deaths occurred during a championshiporganised by J&K tourism department in memory of a braveheart raftingguide, Rouf Dar, who drowned in the Lidder waters while saving the lives of atourist couple from Kolkata last month.
However, the memorial sporting event turned into yet anothertragedy, when on the penultimate day of the three-day event a boat with ninepeople onboard capsized resulting into the death of participant Sanjana RinkuPandita, a migrant Kashmiri Pandit from Jammu, and an employee of the tourismdepartment.
“The day’s event was closed by 3pm. The mishap occurredaround 4:15 pm when all the rescue teams, SDRF, police, sports council team,and commercial rafters had called it a day,” an official said on condition ofanonymity.
“So, no rescue boat was at their disposal. But despite thatthe tourism officials ignored the guidelines and made boats for the joyrideavailable to their kith and kin and some participants too.”
The official said this was sheer negligence on part ofin-charge tourism officials.
Experts say the tragedy could still have been avoided hadthe rafters been accompanied by guides.
“Water level in the Lidder river was not even so high at thetime of the mishap. If they would have accompanied by professional guidesprobably those from Nepal, they might have been rescued,” said a professionalrafter from Srinagar.
The guides from Nepal are trained from France-based company.
The expert rafter cited the example of commercial raftingwhich has been on at Yannar, some 16 kilometers downstream Lidder for aroundtwo decades now.
“One unfortunate incident occurred in 2004 when a boatcapsized and an elderly lady tourist died but five more accompanying her wererescued. Since then there had been not a single mishap till the tragic episodeof Rouf Dar,” the rafter said, declining to give his name.
“The professional guides from Nepal, as well as Dar, managedto rescue the tourist couple. However Dar unfortunately was caught in awhirlpool and drowned.”
The experienced rafter however was quick to add that therecan be no compromise on preventive measures during adventure activities.
“In Rouf’s case, we might only regret that with water levelhigh and dusk approaching the risk should not have been taken even as he himselfwas trained and was accompanied by professional guides from Nepal.”
Experts believe that the ice-cold Lidder waters can lead toquick hypothermia to a person caught helpless in it.
Locals also question the role of SDRF and NDRF during therescue operations.
Everytime there is a tragedy they (SDRF and government-run disaster Management cells)exploit it and turn it into a PR exercise. Even in Yanar when Dar’s boatcapsized and in the recent tragedy it was the guides of local rafting companieswho rescued the tourists and also fished out the dead bodies,” said ShabirAhmad, a local resident.
Many others echoed his views.
“Even last year a tourist here died in a mishap. Thesetragedies could be easily averted if the disaster management people keep theirrescue team here for the rafting season,” another resident said.
The SDRF team, the locals say did not dare to go deep intothe waters to fish out the body of Dar.
“The SDRF team is highly unskilled, they don’t have propertraining. On both occasions, they could not carry out the rescue missionproperly,” said another resident, Muhmad Yousuf.
He said, most of those posted in the SDRF were on the vergeof retirement.
Director Tourism Kashmir, Nazir Ahmad, said that a probe has already been ordered to find out the reason and fix responsibility for the mishap.
“It will be completed within seven days time,” Ahmad said onThursday, but admitted that the mishap occurred when the day’s event was closedand that those onboard the capsized boat were on a joyride.
However, he maintained the guides were professionallytrained and that all instructions were implemented in letter and spirit duringthe championship.
“We had rescue teams from police, SDRF, administration andcommercial rafters deputed during the entire event,” Ahmad claimed.
The three-day memorial championship organised by JK tourismdepartment that started on July 17 was called off after the tragic episode.