Boat tragedy toll mounts to 24; PM, Nitish announce ex-gratia

As the toll in boat tragedy in river Ganga in Patna climbed to 24, the opposition on Sunday blamed the alleged mismanagement and negligence at a government organised event for the incident even as Chief Minister Nitish Kumar ordered a high-level inquiry.

An FIR was filed with Sonepur police station against persons running an entertainment park at Sabalpur diara and boat operators for illegally ferrying passengers between Saran and Patna districts after the boat capsized on Saturday near NIT ghat as it was apparently overcrowded with revellers returning from a kite festival organised by tourism department on occasion of Makar Sankranti festival.

However, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushil Kumar Modi alleged that there was an attempt to cover-up the “negligence” of state government. He claimed that there were inadequate number of boats to ferry the people for the event.

But after the FIR has been lodged, it seems that the incident took place only because of the entertainment park, which had not even started, he said, adding “to hide their incapability the government has given a new twist to the incident”.

State Tourism Minister Anita Devi rejected suggestions that adequate arrangements had not been made by the department for the event and sought to blame private boat operators for the tragedy.

“We had made all arrangements and informed local authorities in writing. But there were some private boat operators,” she said.

“We are saddened by this terrible tragedy and are with the families in this hour of grief. The chief minister has announced ex-gratia....

“He has ordered a high level probe into the incident and directed that strict action should be taken against those responsible for any lapses,” the tourism minister said.

Principal Secretary (Disaster Management) Pratyaya Amrit said that four more bodies were recovered on Sunday, taking the death toll to 24.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the chief minister announced an ex-gratia of Rs two lakh and Rs four lakh respectively to the kin of those killed in the incident.

Sub-Divisional Police Officer Md Ali Ansari said the FIR was filed by the Sub-Divisional Officer Anuj Kumar late Saturday night.

Raids were being carried out to nab the boatman identified as Ashok Rai other accused, he said.

Rai is a native of Chaharan Mohalla of Sabalpur village.

The boat, which had about 40 people on board who were returning to Ranighat in Patna from Sabalpur diara (riverine area), was retrieved from the river.

In the wake of the tragedy, a programme to mark the start of redevelopment work of Mahatma Gandhi Setu in Patna which the PM was to address on Sunday via video conferencing was also postponed.

The boat tragedy has also led to cancellation of other engagements including ‘dahi-chura’ feast that Janata Dal-United unit president Bashistha Narayan Singh was scheduled to host on Sunday.

The four-day kite festival which started on Saturday will not continue in the wake of the tragedy.