Cruise boats in India operate without mandatory safety standards
BIS must act now to prevent another Bargi Dam tragedy
The capsizing of a cruise boat in the Narmada near Bargi Dam in Jabalpur on Thursday — which has so far claimed 9 lives including a mother and her 4-year-old son found clinging to each other, with several still missing and 17 hospitalised — is a tragedy that was entirely preventable. The boat reportedly carried 40-45 passengers and overturned in a sudden storm. The captain, who was wearing a life jacket, survived. How many of the passengers were?
This is not an isolated incident. From Kerala backwaters to Goa, from Dal Lake to the Ganga, and now Narmada, India has seen repeated cruise and tourist boat tragedies — yet the country still has no mandatory Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) specifications for cruise and tourist boats. Most operators run on local approvals, ad-hoc inspections, and self-certification. There is no enforceable standard for hull stability, passenger load, weather-readiness, life-saving equipment per passenger, or operator training.
The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways did release draft Inland Vessels (Special Category: Pleasure Craft and Canal Cruise Boats) Rules, 2025 in November 2025 — but these are still in consultation, not enforced, and even when notified, they will rely on State-level Certificates of Fitness with wide variation in implementation capacity. Draft rules sitting in a file do not save lives. Mandatory, uniform, third-party-audited standards do.
As citizens, we urge the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), Ministry of Consumer Affairs, and Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways to:
1. Notify a mandatory Indian Standard for cruise, tourist, and pleasure boats under the BIS Act 2016, covering hull design, stability, freeboard, maximum passenger load by vessel category, structural integrity testing, and minimum life-saving equipment (life jackets for 100% of passengers including children, life rafts, emergency communication).
2. Make BIS certification mandatory for issuance of any Certificate of Fitness or operating license by State maritime boards, IWAI, or tourism departments — no certification, no operation.
3. Mandate weather-linked sailing protocols — automatic suspension of operations on IMD weather warnings, GPS tracking, and real-time passenger manifests filed with the local authority before each trip.
4. Mandate operator and crew certification — minimum training in vessel handling, swimming, first aid, and emergency evacuation, with periodic re-certification.
5. Set up a BIS-empanelled third-party audit and surprise inspection mechanism, with audit reports published publicly, similar to the model used for FSSAI food safety audits.
6. Penal accountability — make non-compliance and operating without BIS certification a cognisable offence with steep fines, license cancellation, and personal liability for owners and operators in case of death or injury.
7. Time-bound notification — the draft Pleasure Craft and Canal Cruise Boat Rules, 2025 must be finalised and notified within 60 days, and BIS standards must be notified in parallel.
Tourists who pay for a boat ride in India trust that the vessel they board has been certified safe by the State. Today, that trust is misplaced. A family from Delhi went on a holiday to Jabalpur and four members were on that boat — only two came back. This must be the last such tragedy. more
The capsizing of a cruise boat in the Narmada near Bargi Dam in Jabalpur on Thursday — which has so far claimed 9 lives including a mother and her 4-year-old son found clinging to each other, with several still missing and 17 hospitalised — is a tragedy that was entirely preventable. The boat reportedly carried 40-45 passengers and overturned in a sudden storm. The captain, who was wearing a life jacket, survived. How many of the passengers were?
This is not an isolated incident. From Kerala backwaters to Goa, from Dal Lake to the Ganga, and now Narmada, India has seen repeated cruise and tourist boat tragedies — yet the country still has no mandatory Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) specifications for cruise and tourist boats. Most operators run on local approvals, ad-hoc inspections, and self-certification. There is no enforceable standard for hull stability, passenger load, weather-readiness, life-saving equipment per passenger, or operator training.
The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways did release draft Inland Vessels (Special Category: Pleasure Craft and Canal Cruise Boats) Rules, 2025 in November 2025 — but these are still in consultation, not enforced, and even when notified, they will rely on State-level Certificates of Fitness with wide variation in implementation capacity. Draft rules sitting in a file do not save lives. Mandatory, uniform, third-party-audited standards do.
As citizens, we urge the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), Ministry of Consumer Affairs, and Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways to:
1. Notify a mandatory Indian Standard for cruise, tourist, and pleasure boats under the BIS Act 2016, covering hull design, stability, freeboard, maximum passenger load by vessel category, structural integrity testing, and minimum life-saving equipment (life jackets for 100% of passengers including children, life rafts, emergency communication).
2. Make BIS certification mandatory for issuance of any Certificate of Fitness or operating license by State maritime boards, IWAI, or tourism departments — no certification, no operation.
3. Mandate weather-linked sailing protocols — automatic suspension of operations on IMD weather warnings, GPS tracking, and real-time passenger manifests filed with the local authority before each trip.
4. Mandate operator and crew certification — minimum training in vessel handling, swimming, first aid, and emergency evacuation, with periodic re-certification.
5. Set up a BIS-empanelled third-party audit and surprise inspection mechanism, with audit reports published publicly, similar to the model used for FSSAI food safety audits.
6. Penal accountability — make non-compliance and operating without BIS certification a cognisable offence with steep fines, license cancellation, and personal liability for owners and operators in case of death or injury.
7. Time-bound notification — the draft Pleasure Craft and Canal Cruise Boat Rules, 2025 must be finalised and notified within 60 days, and BIS standards must be notified in parallel.
Tourists who pay for a boat ride in India trust that the vessel they board has been certified safe by the State. Today, that trust is misplaced. A family from Delhi went on a holiday to Jabalpur and four members were on that boat — only two came back. This must be the last such tragedy. more
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Very true. Its tragic. There are no guidelines, if there are, followed and there are no checks and balances to prevent such mishaps. There needs to be an authority to frame and monitor rules & regulations. Same thing is true for airlines. Although there exists DGCA, not sure how effective checks are carried out before the aircraft is permitted to board passengers. The airlines staff physically don't carry out security checks for life saving jackets, oxygen masks, emergency exit doors if they are operational, so on and so forth because the service provider has to depart the flight immediately. Serious concern. more
May 06
All the standards are decoratively mentioned on paper, Practically Implementation is Zero. But one thing how the Passenger filled Cruise get turnout ? It is having certain weight. Not So easy for wind to turn out so easily. No body is paying attention at this point. more
May 06
Stepping in and out from the cruise boats is very unsafe in Alappuzha. We may have to jump or use temporary unstable wooden planks more
May 02
Safety measures to be implemented at every lake and river. Common man is feeling that it is ok. But no one is serious for this. State government and municipal authorities are mostly responsible for thirst type of mishap’s.They are not taking serious actions.safety jackets were given when water comes in the boat.it is too much. What is is there is no staff or this work is not allotted to any one for precautionary measures in municipal and government departments.only the man is accountable who has given this job to maintain precautionary measures at river or lake. However lacking of proper management at every level and every corner of service by government or municipal authorities we have to endure these types of mishaps. Even seated persons in boat or cruise must ask for safety jackets first and then ride in boats and cruise.This instruction to be stick and written in every boat in region and Hindi and English languages. more
May 02
in india wherever lakes are there and cruises or boating are there there are no regulations against safety and only when such kind of incidents happen then authorities wake up similar to fire in big apartments etc First of all rules should be formulated and then the next hardest portion is implementation.human lives does not matter in india and after some time these kind of incidents will erase from peoples mind more
May 02
