Berhampur/Bhubaneswar, Dec. 10: Four persons, including two toddlers, died when a fishing boat carrying 31 persons capsized in the Chilika lake near Rambha in Ganjam district this morning.

Rambha is 127km from Bhubaneswar.

Two adults died at Rambha Hospital, and the bodies of the two children - a three-year-old boy and an 18-month-old girl - were received dead at the hospital. The deceased were identified as Jitu Pradhan, 30, his three-year-old son Sahil, 18-month-old Swapna Swain and Siba Purohit, 21, all natives of Balangir.

Police said there were 20 men, eight women and three children in the boat. Twenty-seven passengers had been rescued and were being treated at three hospitals, including MKCG in Berhampur. All of them are out of danger, the police said.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik has announced an ex gratia of Rs 4 lakh each to the families of the deceased. The state government has also decided to provide free treatment to the other passengers.

The passengers and two boatmen were on their way from Sabulia to Ghantasila hills, where they were going for a picnic.

Eyewitnesses said the incident took place around 10.30am. The boat was about 1km away from the shore. "The boatmen lost control of the boat because of a strong wind and high waves. It took just a few second for the boat to capsize. We managed to stay afloat by hanging on to pieces of wood that came off the damaged boat. Local fishermen saved our lives," said Kiran Pradhan, one of the survivors.

Inspector-general of police (southern range) Amitabh Thakur said: "The boat had permission for fishing and not for transporting passengers. The boat owner and his son were also in the boat when the incident occurred. A case of negligence has been registered against the boat owner and his son - Dutia Mallik and Hatia Mallik."

The Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force and the state fire services pressed its men into the rescue operation.

Chilika Development Authority officials said the water's depth was usually high in the part of the lake that fell in Ganjam district. "The depth of the lake in the Khurda and Puri district areas are around 1.5 metre because of siltation. But, the depth is around 5 metres in Ganjam. The wind velocity too is higher in Ganjam than in the other districts, which makes boats more vulnerable to capsizing," said the development authority's additional chief executive Sasmita Lenka.

Officials said that while fishing boats were registered with the state fisheries and animal resources department, boats ferrying passengers were registered with the Inland Water Transport (IWT) organisation under the transport department.

Though the boats ferrying tourists and passengers need to obtain licence from the IWT, tourists alleged that a number of boats operating in the lake did not have valid licences.