Excise, Revenue officials rescued after boat capsizes in Kottayam stream

Ettumanoor: A team of Revenue and Excise officials had a narrow escape when their fibre boat capsized in the Churulikuzhi stream near Kaipuzha here. The Revenue officials were on their way to prepare a site plan as requested by the Excise officers.

The incident occurred on Thursday afternoon. Kaipuzha Village Officer K P Smitha, senior clerk Prakash Pai and Village Field Assistant Joseph Devasia besides two excise officials were in the team that boarded the boat. As they were navigating the stream, their boat was suddenly hit by another boat coming from the opposite direction, overturning it.

Thrown into the water, the officials managed to cling to the overturned boat until help arrived. Fortunately, the occupants of the other boat quickly returned and rescued them from the precarious situation.

While most of the team emerged from the incident unscathed, Prakash Pai, who did not know swimming required some medical attention and was taken to a hospital in Kaipuzha. In the chaos, the mobile phones of all the officials and Pai’s wallet were lost in the water.

Despite the frightening ordeal, the officials expressed relief at having avoided a major disaster. 

Despite the frightening ordeal, the officials expressed relief at having avoided a major disaster.