Bhubaneswar: Commerce and transport minister Nrushingha Charan Sahu on Monday asked the director of ports and inland water transport to conduct an inquiry into the Chilika boat mishap on Saturday evening, which claimed six lives, including four minors.
"The inquiry will include the details of registration of the boat, availability of life jackets and so on. After getting the detailed report, necessary action will be initiated," said the minister.
Sources said the fisheries and animal resources development department had granted licence to around 7,000 boats for fishing in the lake, while another 1,500 boats were operating in the water body for ferrying tourist with licence from the inland water transport under the transport department.
According to the Odiha Boat Rules, 2004, it is mandatory for the licensed passenger boats to provide one life jacket to each passenger. However, the boat operators often ferry the tourists without adequate number of life jackets. Similarly, a number of boats granted licence for fishing also ferry tourists, violating the norms.
In December 2016, a similar mishap had taken place in the lake, in which four persons, including two children, died when a boat ferrying around 30 passengers had capsized. Further investigation had revealed that the boat was meant for fishing activities and was not supposed to ferry passengers. Following the mishap, the state government had last year launched Saheed Baji Rout Noujatra Suraksha Yojana for providing life jackets, fire extinguishers and other safety equipment on boats.
"Adequate funds have been sanctioned under the scheme for purchase of lifebuoy and life jackets for passengers. We will also inquire whether lifebuoy and life jackets are not being provided to the passengers or the passengers are reluctant to use those," said Sahu.
The mishap occurred on Saturday evening when the boat carrying 18 passengers from Khurda and Nayagarh were returning from Kalijai to Balugaon. While two bodies were recovered on Saturday, the remaining bodies were fished out on Sunday.
