Guwahati: Three youths, two of them college students, drowned after an overcrowded mechanised country boat capsized in the Brahmaputra on Wednesday. One person is reported missing while 20 people were either rescued or swam ashore.
The boat had left Madhyamkhandapar ghat, close to Fancy Bazar, the commercial hub of Guwahati, on the south bank of the river, for Aswaklanta ghat on the north bank, a distance of 2km, at 12.15pm. Boats and steamers usually cover this distance in about 25 to 30 minutes as they make their way upstream.
The boat was about 150m from Aswaklanta when it capsized around 12.30pm.
Personnel of the State Disaster Relief Force, who were pressed into action within an hour of the capsize, retrieved two bodies while one person died on the way to hospital.
The dead have been identified as Dimpi Das, Ankita Baruah and Kamal Das. Dimpi and Ankita, students of Cotton College State University, were returning home after attending Teachers' Day celebrations. Eight persons were rescued, 12 swam ashore while a youth, Kamal Rajak, has been reported missing.
"Services of the army have been requisitioned for rescue operations," Kamrup (metro) deputy commissioner Virendra Mittal said.
Assam Inland Water Transport department director Bharat Bhushan Dev Choudhary said preliminary inquiries suggest the boat had 24 people and seven motorcycles on board. "The boat, which had a 3-tonne capacity, could carry 15 people."
Survivors, however, said the boat had around 40 people.
The survivors said the boat's engine failed midstream after which it was swept downstream by strong currents, a feature of the river particularly during this time of the year, till it crashed against pillars erected by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for a water supply project. The boat then overturned and "broke into pieces".
The state government has launched two helplines, 0361-2733052 (Kamrup metro) for North Guwahati and 0361-2684407 (Kamrup), and deputed additional chief secretary Jishnu Baruah to inquire into the mishap.
Assam transport minister Chandra Mohan Patowary told The Telegraph in the evening that ferry ( bhut-bhuti) services on the Brahmaputra between North Guwahati and Guwahati have been suspended till further orders. "We will introduce three modern ferry vessels on the route this month for safety of commuters. We will also introduce a bill for regulating water transport," he said, while describing the mishap as "tragic and unfortunate".
Leader of the Opposition Debabrata Saikia said the government must take responsibility for the tragedy.
He said it has not woken up to the reality despite the Dhubri (2012) and Goalpara (2017) tragedies.
"The government had promised preventive action and strict enforcement of rules for passenger boats after the Goalpara incident. But today's tragedy has exposed that nothing has been done on the ground," he added.
No case has yet been registered against ferry owner Kamal Das of North Guwahati.
On October 27, 1998, 30 people had drowned in the Brahmaputra here when an overcrowded mechanised country boat capsized after colliding with another during Chhath Puja. In 2012, 41 people had died after an "overloaded" boat capsized at Medattari in Dhubri district.
A World Bank report prepared in 2016 had expressed concern over Assam's "aging and poorly equipped" ferries. "Many of DIWTA (Directorate of Inland Water Transport, Assam)'s own vessels are more than 40 years old. Most of the demand is met by the informal sector operating traditional country boats without supporting infrastructure. Navigational aids are often inadequate and many ferry terminals are no more than improvised moorings needing relocation with changing river conditions, often for substantial distances... Safety is also a critical issue," it had said.
