SHC seeks boat operation SOP

District administration did not make special arrangements on urs, court informed

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) directed on Monday the director of the provincial fisheries and marine department to submit the standard operating procedure (SOP) applicable in the province to avert incidents like the capsizing of a boat near Thatta on December 7 that resulted in 21 deaths and injuries to 47 others.

A division bench, headed by Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, passed this directive while hearing a petition filed by Justice Helpline, a non-governmental organisation (NGO).

The group took the provincial chief secretary, secretaries of the home, local government, maritime affairs, livestock and fisheries departments, and marine director to court over their alleged negligence that resulted in the incident.



Counsel for the NGO Advocate Nadeem Shaikh informed the bench that 68 passengers had boarded the boat from the coastal village of Buharo to attend the annual urs of Meenhan Pathai at a shrine located on an island off the coast. The lawyer added that the boat capsized due to high tide and overcrowding. While 47 people were saved by a rescue team, 21 passengers drowned in the incident, he said.

It was argued that according to the Boat Rules, 1953, no licensed boat can carry a greater number of passengers than the number allowed by its license or under the Rules.

Therefore, the court was pleaded to direct the respondents to submit the SOP to the court so that responsibility of the tragic incident could be ascertained.



During Tuesday's hearing, the marine director filed a report stating that the ill-fated boat had been confiscated and its owner arrested.

The judges directed the director to submit the SOP in this regard and fixed the hearing for January 10, 2018.