Resort flagged cruise as unsafe weeks before Bargi tragedy:Letter written on March 1, yet authorities kept it running; 13 people died

Major negligence by the Madhya Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation has come to light in the Bargi cruise tragedy that took place in Jabalpur on April 30. Thirteen days after the incident, a letter written by Maikal Resort has surfaced. The letter stated that the cruise was already reported to be faulty on March 1. Despite this, the cruise was not taken out of service. The letter clearly mentioned that the cruise was not fit to be operated in water. This means that despite being aware of the technical flaws, tourists were still allowed onboard and the cruise was operated in the dam, leading to the death of 13 people in the accident. When Dainik Bhaskar spoke to Jabalpur Collector Raghvendra Singh regarding the matter, neither he nor the resort management gave any response. Tourism Corporation says unaware of the letter Dainik Bhaskar also spoke to Tourism Corporation advisor Rajendra Nigam. He said he currently had no information about the letter that had gone viral. According to him, someone had forwarded the letter to him, but he had not yet examined it. Rajendra Nigam said that since December, the Maikalsuta cruise had been making five rounds daily. On Sundays, the number increased to nearly 10 rounds, which was recorded in the logbook. However, when asked about the second cruise ‘Rewa’ developing faults, he refused to comment. He maintained that the Maikalsuta cruise was fully operational. According to him, there were plans to replace the engine, but the cruise did not have any technical defect. Boat builder had advised replacing both engines The subject line of the resort’s letter read: “Regarding repair work of boats available at the unit.” The letter further stated that two cruises were available at the unit. The Maikalsuta cruise was brought in during 2006 and is now nearly 20 years old. The second cruise, Rewa, was brought in during 2007 and is nearly 19 years old. Although repair work had been carried out several times on both cruises, the engines continued to malfunction repeatedly. The authorities had been informed several times through letters. The letter also stated that on January 14, 2025, both engines of the Rewa cruise stopped functioning during a round. Hyderabad-based boat builders informed through email that the engines had become too old and spare parts were no longer available. They recommended replacing both engines entirely. One engine of Maikalsuta was not functioning properly The second cruise, Maikalsuta, was operational, but one of its engines was not taking load properly. Because of this, docking the cruise and taking it out for rounds had become extremely difficult. During strong winds and waves, the staff sometimes had to rely on a speed boat for assistance while operating it. The second engine, which handled the load better, often faced starting issues. Its self-starter gear would get jammed, forcing suspension of cruise services. This also led to complaints and anger from tourists. The letter further stated that only the Maikalsuta cruise was operational at the unit and urgent repair work on its engine was necessary. Otherwise, services could be stopped at any time. Keeping in mind the tourist season and the regular operation of the cruise, repairs or engine replacement were termed extremely necessary to avoid financial losses during the tourism season. Authorities repeatedly warned about danger Thirteen tourists lost their lives in the cruise accident. When Dainik Bhaskar tried to contact the Collector regarding the matter, he did not answer the calls. The Maikal Resort management had reportedly warned authorities several times about the danger. Letters numbered 45, 108 and 169 specifically mentioned the poor condition of the engines and recommended their replacement. Despite this, officials of the Madhya Pradesh Tourism Corporation allegedly failed to take any concrete action. This has now raised a major question — when the regional manager of MPT was fully aware of the situation, why were tourists still allowed to travel on a potentially dangerous cruise? Hearing in Jabalpur High Court over Bargi cruise tragedy The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Monday heard public interest litigations filed in connection with the Bargi cruise tragedy in Jabalpur. During the hearing, the state government informed the court that an inquiry commission headed by retired Justice Sanjay Dwivedi had been constituted to investigate the entire incident.