Jan. 12: More than a month has passed since a Jadavpur University engineering student drowned in the Hooghly after apparently falling off a boat near Babughat.

The boatman had then been arrested on the charge of negligence - flouting rules, many of which he probably didn't know.

Metro recently visited Prinsep Ghat and Pani Ghat - two popular places for boat rides - to take stock of the situation.

Life jackets

After Rounak Saha's death on November 24, police had said that life jackets would be compulsory for boat rides.

Neither Saha nor any of his four friends was wearing a life jacket that day.

At Prinsep Ghat, every boat had life jackets. Boatmen were seen asking everyone to wear one as soon as they got on a boat.

At Pani Ghat, from where Saha had taken a boat with his friends, the jackets were kept beside the stairs leading to the ghat. Everyone had to wear one before boarding a boat.

Anwesha Dutta, 24, was with a friend for a boat ride. "I didn't know the rule about life jackets. But I don't have any problem in wearing one for safety," Dutta, a hotel management student, told Metro.

Ban on intoxicants

The rules make it a must to frisk everyone boarding a boat. But who will frisk is unclear.

Metro spent a couple of hours at both the ghats and didn't find anyone being frisked. Many people carried soft drinks and water bottles with them while getting on a boat.

People are told about the blanket ban on intoxicants before they board a boat, many of the boatmen said.

An officer of the river traffic department said boatmen had been told to warn customers against mixing alcohol with soft drinks and carrying them to boats. It can lead to arrests, the officer said.

Cops in plain clothes on boats keep tabs on revellers, if any, he said.

People have learnt a lesson after Rounak Saha's death; not a single person has been arrested for drinking or doping on boats since the November incident, the officer said.

Overcrowding

Boatmen in Pani Ghat had different takes on the number of people they could allow on a boat.

While one said he never allowed more than four people, another said it was five for him.

But minutes later, when a group of 12 arrived, they split them in two groups of six and set sail.

The river traffic officer said boats could take up to 10 people, including the boatman.

But boatmen have been told not to allow more than six people at a time, he said.

Theft arrest

A 40-year-old man was arrested today in Gaighata, North 24-Parganas, in connection with a theft in Burrabazar.

Anand Kumar Jalan of Salt Lake, who owns a company on Monohar Das Street, filed a complaint against an employee, Uttam Bardhan, alleging he had stolen Rs 1,80,000. Bardhan has been remanded in police custody till January 19.

Man held

The director of a company, floated to lure people into buying land on instalment, was arrested in Survey Park yesterday on the charge of duping people of nearly Rs 5 lakh, police said. Ashoke Kumar Basu has been sent to police custody till January 17.