The exact situation which led to the disaster remains unknown. The experts and the public voice different opinions on the matter.
When a group of victims explain that the boat drowned loosing the balance when all the passengers gathered on one side of the boat and that they saw the leakage at the opposite side, the other group went on to describe that the boat lost its balance when the teachers and the staff of the boat tried to save the children when the leakage was found.
In the above two contradictory arguments given by the survivors, there is a clear hint that the boat had a leak and that it was not actually ‘fit’ for sailing. Which means the violation of basic rule of safety. But the staff of the boat had another opinion, they state that the boat lost its balance when all the passengers including the children and teachers rushed to one corner of the boat to see a birds nest on the shore. But this argument is widely seen as an attempt to hide the grave mistakes they have committed.
The public have one more version which though seems far fetched, is relevant to the present situation of things in the state. They believe that the disaster was caused by the ropes (used for digging out sand from the river bed) getting tangled to the propeller of the boat. These ropes are tied under water to help the sand diggers dive and come up easily but these ropes have proved death-traps many times.
