Mumbai, October 24: Fishermen's leader blamed the Maharashtra government's decision to venture out its boat into the Arabian sea during Sharad Purnima for the mishap that occurred near the Shiv Smarak Wednesday evening. As per age-old wisdom, fishermen avoid taking their ships to the sea owing to the high tidal waves on the day surrounding the full moon of Sharad Purnima.

"They made the wrong decision to head out the day after Purnima. Although a few fishermen do go out fishing on full moon nights, they are well aware of the tides and can back out or manoeuvre. But this boatman was not familiar with this patch of sea," fishermen's leader Damodar Tandel told TOI. The night of October 23-24 was the full moon of Sharad Purnima.

Tandel also questioned the chosen location for Shiv Smarak or the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Memorial. He said the path to the mid-sea site for the grand statue is a bed of rocks. "Every fisherman knows he has to avoid that path into the sea. We have 2,000 boats in Sassoon Dock and 500 in Girgaum-Cuffe Parade. None of them traverses that path," he said.

Tandel added that a rocky seabed would welcome every single boat carrying tourists, technicians or official to the chose site for Shiv Smarak, warning that more accident will happen if the location is not changed. One person was killed and two injured after a speedboat carrying around 25 persons hit an underwater rock and later capsized.

The mishap took place at around 4:30 pm when the boat was on a trip for a puja ceremony at the proposed Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Memorial in the Arabian Sea. Tandel said Shiv Smarak Samiti Chairman Vinayak Mete should be booked for culpable homicide. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis told the media that he will order a detailed investigation into the incident.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 24, 2018 09:24 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).