The latest move to bring houseboats without registration on board the licensing system has failed miserably. Only 39 vessels including 19 houseboats and 20 shikara boats have turned up for a survey conducted under the aegis of the Kerala Maritime Board (KMB) and Ports Department in Alappuzha recently.
“Earlier, a meeting convened by the Chief Minister decided to bring all illegal houseboats on board the licensing system. Following this, we received 667 applications for registration in an adalat conducted last year. However, 242 applicants failed to produce necessary documents or appear for the survey as part of the registration process. On February 27, 2020 it was further decided to give them a last chance to register with the Alappuzha Port of Registry. However, only a small number of boats have come up for the survey,” says an official with the Ports Department.
The official added that it was now up for the government to decide on the action against houseboats and other vessels operating flouting norms.
Drive fails
Earlier last week, a drive conducted to seize unregistered houseboats also came a cropper. The Ports Department officials said that they were forced to abandon the drive midway following a “direction from the top echelons of the district administration.”
The move was in the wake of recurring incidents involving houseboats on the Vembanad Lake.
According to the Ports Department, the licensing authority, the number of registered houseboats in the backwaters stood at 775. However, they are clueless about the actual number of illegal houseboats.
Attitude of authorities
“The failed drive against the illegal houseboats shows the lackadaisical attitude of the authorities towards a critical issue. To bring order in the houseboat sector, the government should act tough against illegal operations. It should also restrict houseboats registered in other districts from operating in the waters of Alappuzha. The illegal houseboats are eating into the business of genuine operators and the industry is on the verge of collapse,” says Kevin Rozario, general secretary, All Kerala Houseboat Owners and Operators Samiti. Meanwhile, District Collector M. Anjana has convened a meeting later this week to discuss illegal houseboat operations and safety issues.