The Ports department has intensified its crackdown on illegal houseboats in Alappuzha. It has sought police assistance to seize vessels flouting norms.
The move comes after a houseboat with tourists from Tamil Nadu capsized at Kanitta jetty in Kuttanad on June 11. Though all the three passengers and crew escaped unhurt, a local resident drowned while trying to retrieve the belongings of the tourists from the submerged vessel.
Officials of the Ports department said the craft that sunk was not licensed to operate. "It was operating without registration, licence and other mandatory certificates. We had even served its owner with a detention notice a few weeks ago. But the vessel continued to operate in violation of the rules. After the accident, we submitted a report to the police. It is up for the police to take further action," said a Ports department official.
