Snehasish Ganguly, former Bengal cricketer and elder brother of Sourav Ganguly, and his wife Arpita survived a scare during a Puri visit when a wave “as high as a 10-storey building” overturned their speedboat 200m off the beach.
While 59-year-old Snehasish, the Cricket Association of Bengal president, was tossed into the sea with two other tourists and the speedboat driver, Arpita was trapped under the capsized boat and “struggled hard to breathe”.
Lifeguards reacted swiftly and rescued everyone. It helped that all the four tourists on board wore life jackets.
Arpita later accused the speedboat operator of endangering the tourists’ lives by luring them into a ride in a rough part of the sea.
That the Ganguly couple were involved in Saturday evening’s sea accident and rescue became widely known on Monday from social media chatter.
Before leaving Puri, Arpita told local reporters: “When I asked them (boat operator) whether it was advisable to take the speedboat ride as the sea was rough, they assured us that nothing would happen.”
Arpita described her horrific experience: “Suddenly, in the sea, a wave as high as a 10-storey building fell on us, and the boat overturned. I remained stuck under the boat and struggled hard to breathe.
“Lifeguards rushed to the site and someone pulled at my leg. Luckily, I survived. It was terrible at the time.”
She added: “The speedboat owners should not be allowed to play with the lives of tourists. They are doing all this out of greed for money.”
The accident occurred off the beach in front of the Sonar Bangla Hotel, close to the lighthouse area. The sea along this stretch is always rough, and tourists are advised not to take boat rides here.
However, local sources said, this part of the beach is crowded with tourists owing to the proximity of several prominent hotels, and private water sports and boating companies lure them into speedboat rides on this dangerous stretch.
While there’s no official ban on boat rides on this stretch, the sources said, the operators have been allotted spots for tourist rides on other parts of the beach. But most of them violate the guidelines, and the presence of lifeguards at the spot suggests that the violations have become established practice.
Police refused comment since no complaint was made.
Arpita said the operator had got the party of four to book the entire boat – which can carry 10 people -- “to make more money”.
A lifeguard said it was common practice among the operators to insist on smaller parties reserving the entire boat “to save on fuel”.
“The government must tighten regulations and ban such activities in the rough seas,” Arpita said. “I shall write to have these activities stopped.”
A video of the rescue has been circulated widely on social media.