The Gujarat High Court has directed the state government to submit an action taken report on the death of students and teachers in the recent boat tragedy, observing that it has shocked the public conscience.

Twelve students and two teachers of New Sunrise School in Waghodia near Vadodara drowned when an overloaded boat capsized in Motnath lake in Harni area on the outskirts of the city on Thursday, while 18 students and two teachers were rescued. At that time the students were on picnic.

Taking suo motu cognizance of the incident, the court of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal, in an order on January 19, said it was disturbing to see that safety norms were completely violated as life jackets were not provided to the children.

The order, which was made available on the court’s website on Sunday, said the incident has shocked the conscience of the public at large. “We call upon the Secretary, Home Department of the State of Gujarat to submit the action taken report in the case along with an affidavit from a Gazetted Officer of the Home Department of the Government of Gujarat by the next due date,” the order said. The court has fixed January 29 as the next date of hearing.

On Friday, Gujarat High Court Advocates Association President, Brijesh Trivedi, had brought to the notice of the court news reports regarding the Harni boat tragedy. Police have registered an FIR against 19 people under sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide not amounting to murder).

An official had earlier said that they have arrested six people so far, while efforts are on to nab others. In its complaint, the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) has said that the owners, managers and boat operators of the firm which developed, operated and maintained the lake shore for recreational purposes had committed criminal negligence in several cases.

The VMC pointed out lapses on the part of the contractor including non-maintenance of boats and not keeping adequate number of life saving equipment and life jackets. It was also revealed that only a few students were given life jackets and no instructions were given to them.

It has been said in the FIR that due to overloading, the boat first started shaking and then overturned due to water entering from the front.

Those booked also include officials of Kotia Projects, which was awarded the contract to operate the Harni Lake zone by VMC under the public-private partnership (PPP) model.

While VMC has terminated the contract of Kotia Projects, officials have found that it had given the contract for boating activities to another company. According to the police, the boat operator had no prior experience and his assistant did not even know how to swim.

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – PTI)