Kerala floods: Adventure Tour operators join rescue operations
Kochi, Aug 19: A 90-member team of the Adventure Tour Operators Association of India on Sunday began rescue operations in the flood-ravaged Kerala using 17 wide-body rafts brought in from Rishikesh, its team leader said.
Speaking to IANS, Sam T.Samuel, who runs the Kalypso Adventures here, said that it was with the help of the Indian Air Force that they were able to get these rafts from Rishikesh making it possible to begin the rescue operations in Paravur, Ernakulam district.
"Each raft can carry eight people. These rafts are paddle ones and hence no fuel is required. Our group of volunteers are expert rafters," said Samuel, a retired naval pilot.
Paravur remains one of the worst affected in the rains that started on August 9, causing destruction across Kerala, rendering lakhs of people homeless and claiming 370 lives so far.
While many from this area are in relief camps, thousands still await rescue. On Saturday, six people died after a wall of a Church collapsed.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
