Take INS Betwa accident seriously

The tipping over of the missile frigate INS Betwa in the naval dockyard in Mumbai is the latest in a series of accidents that have happened in the Indian Navy. The frigate was undergoing a medium maintenance refit. Two sailors lost their lives and some others were injured. The material damage is still being assessed. The main mast of the ship seems to have been damaged. The services of experts from abroad have been requisitioned to evaluate the damage and to put the ship back into shape. It is not usual for ships to meet with accidents of this type in the docking yard but in India it has happened in the past also. The Rs 600 crore frigate was not equipped with weapon systems at the time of the mishap. It should cause much embarrassment to the Navy that one more accident has happened to an important asset which was in the docks. But the matter goes beyond embarrassment.

The Navy has called it a freak accident. But this cannot be accepted because a freak accident is what happens because of suddenly occurring weather changes or other unexpected events. That does not seem to be the case. The Navy has also ruled out poor infrastructure or processes as reasons. In that case, there could only be human reasons for the mishap. A board of enquiry has been ordered to find the reasons and to fix responsibility for them. This is important because big organisations with complex and varied levels of functioning cannot work efficiently without accountability being fixed for lapses and failures. This is especially so for military organisations because the stakes are very high. What is involved is not just large sums of money but defence preparedness and national security. If casual attitudes and non-professional ways of thinking and action enter the functioning of the armed forces that is dangerous for the country.

Two years ago, Admiral DK Joshi had taken moral responsibility for a number of accidents that took place in the Navy and resigned as the chief of naval staff. Unfortunately, accidents continue to happen. Two submarines and one frigate were involved in serious accidents before the latest one, and at least 20 lives have been lost. The Navy has said that INS Betwa would be repaired and made up according to the original schedule of maintenance. This is good. But the question is whether a large force like the Indian Navy which has ambitions of projecting its strength much beyond the country’s territorial waters, besides defending them, should have to grapple with too many asset problems and situations like this.