Major Accident in North Guwahati as Boat capsizes with 36 Onboard, 2 bodies recovered

BRAHMAPUTRA MISHAP

* Scant regard to safety measures

* Bhoot-bhooti carried at least 36 passengers

* Mechanized boat service halted during rainy season

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, Sept 5: A blithe disregard for mandatory safety measures needed in ferrying people across the Brahmaputra has made the authority and passengers pay the price – apparently not less than two dozens of lives – in Guwahati. This has happened at a time when the people in the tragedy-struck State are yet to erase the death in Dikhow River from their minds.

SB Brahmaputra, a mechanized boat (bhoot-bhooti) ferrying passengers between the two banks of the Brahmaputra near Fancy Bazar in the city capsized with at least 36 onboard in the middle of the river near Ashwaklanta Devalaya in the river here on Wednesday. The boat ferrying passengers across the river on the Guwahati-Madhyakhanda Ghat river route left the ‘parghat’ near Fancy Bazar. However, when the boat was nearer to the North bank after sailing upstream it met with a technical snag, and its machine stopped working. The boat without its propelling machine was then carried away downstream by the water current and made it hit hard a post erected for the JICA water supply project near the north bank with a crackle. The boat then cracked and started to give in water. Soon a hue and cry started onboard the overloaded boat – while some crying for help, others used their mobile phones asking people on either bank of the river for their rescue. Some rescue boats rushed to the spot from either side of the river and saved as many as 12 passengers, besides fishing out the bodies of two girl students identified as Ankita Baruah and Dimpy Bora. The other passengers onboard the boat were carried away by the river current along with the boat. According to tickets sold, the boat had 24 passengers, seven motorcycles and two bicycles with their riders and three crew members that together put the total people onboard at 36. Contesting this figure, unofficial sources put the figure between 40 and 45. Most of the passengers onboard the fateful board were students. Divers of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been pressed into the search-and-rescue operation.

Meanwhile, Kamrup DC Kamal Baishya has said that “though the number of passengers on board the ill-fated boat was thought to be about 35, according to the tickets sold the number is pegged at 24. However, there is no missing report as yet. Two bodies have been recovered till now. The search operation is still on.”

The ‘parghat’ in question has been given on lease to a private party by the State Inland Water Transport (IWT). After the tragic incident, Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal was quick to order an inquiry into the boat capsize. Additional Chief Secretary Jishnu Baruah is to conduct the inquiry. Transport Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary has ordered immediate halt of plying of mechanized boats between Guwahati and North Guwahati on river Brahmaputra. This order will remain effective during the entire rainy season.

The incident in the tragedy-struck State that had to witness the death of five members of a family in the Dikhow River recently, does raise a few questions on safety measures that are a must while ferrying passengers across the mighty river. In the instant case, gross negligence on the part of the district administrations, IWT under the State Transport Department, the lessee, the river police and passengers as well is glaring. The ill-fated boat had no safety measures – not even buoys and lifejackets. Had there been buoys and lifejackets, the passengers could have saved their lives. The boat, according to sources, was overcrowded. The onus of ensuring total adherence to the prescribed safety norms for ferry boats in the Brahmaputra lies with the IWT. However, the other stakeholders cannot shrug of their responsibility.

What is common in the State is that all stakeholders become very active, issue orders and strictures for strict adherence as and when an accident occurs. They, however, spring back to their usual lackadaisical selves with the passage of time.

The sailor of the boat, Nasuruddin Ali has, however, escaped unhurt.