Bhubaneswar: Death toll in the boat tragedy near Kalijai in Chilika went up to six with four more bodies being fished out on Sunday.

On Sunday evening, police arrested Basant Behera, the owner-cum-operator of the boat that capsized.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday announced an ex gratia of Rs 4 lakh each for the kin of deceased.

Sources said the bodies of two women and a minor boy were recovered early Sunday morning, while the rescue team found the body of another missing child after hours of effort.

The mishap occurred at around 5.30pm on Saturday when the boat carrying 18 passengers from Bhubaneswar and Nayagarh, including the boatman, were returning from Kalijai island to Balugaon.

The deceased have been identified as Pramodini Das, 28, her daughter Shradhanjali, 8, Mira Pattanaik, 11, Kalpana Mohanty, 21, Sudhanshu Sekhar Das, 4, and Suchitra Mohanty, 7. Police said all the deceased were from Kurdha and Nayagarh districts.

The incident, however, had raised question about the tourists' safety in the lake.

In a similar mishap in December 2016, four persons had died in the lake when a boat ferrying around 30 passengers had capsized.

Sources said that around 7,000 boats have been granted licence for fishing by the fisheries and animal resources development department, while another 1,500 boats were operating to ferry tourists with permit from the Inland Water Transport Organisation under transport department.

Sources said that several factors such as unfit boats, boatmen without proper training, faulty engines and lack of awareness about life jackets had become a risky affair for tourists taking the boat ride.

"A life jacket comes for at least Rs 3,000. We have also distributed a number of life jackets to boatmen in the recent past. However, a number of boatmen don't take life jackets in boats, while a number of tourists also don't prefer to wear life-saving jackets," said additional chief executive of Chilika Development Authority Sasmita Lenka.

The police have also registered a case against the boatman. "We are verifying the boatman's claim of having a valid licence to ferry passengers," said inspector-in-charge of Balugaon police station Sanjay Kumar Patnaik.