Nimati Ghat boat disaster: Missing victim's body recovered
(Sourced from PTI)
The body of one of the two missing victims of the boat disaster at Nimati Ghat in Assam's Jorhat district was recovered four days after the incident near Biswanath Ghat, about 100 km downstream of Brahmaputra river from the accident site, on Saturday morning, an official said. With the recovery of the body, the death toll in the boat tragedy has increased to two.
Jorhat Deputy Commissioner Ashok Barman told PTI that the body was recovered by the Forest Department officials of the area. "Documents were recovered on the body, from which it was identified to be of Indreswar Bora of Lakhimpur district," he said. "The other missing victim, a doctor from Jorhat, is still to be traced," Barman further said.
"Search operations near the accident site at Nimati Ghat and surrounding and downstream areas are continuing," Barman added. The body has been brought to Biswanath Chariali and will be taken for post-mortem. At least two persons have died and one remained untraced when a single-engine private boat with around 90 passengers heading to Majuli collided with a government-owned ferry near Nimati Ghat on Wednesday.
Search operations are being conducted by multiple agencies, including NDRF, SDRF, district administrations, and police personnel. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had on Thursday ordered filing of a criminal case over capsizing of the boat plying to Majuli. The Chief Minister had banned all the single-engine private boats plying to Majuli with immediate effect.
After visiting the accident site, Sarma had said that the initial probe indicated "mismanagement" to be the prime reason for the accident. "Single-engine boats are not marine engines. However, if an owner wants to transform them into marine engines, we will support them," he said.
He also admitted there are allegations that the government ferries deliberately run at odd hours, forcing people to commute in the unsafe private boats during the peak hours. "We will correct everything. Now one magistrate each in Jorhat and Majuli will monitor the timings. You will see the situation improving considerably in the next 10-15 days," Sarma had said.
He said two-three new ramps will be provided at Nimati Ghat for parking ferries. On Wednesday, three officials of the Inland Water Transport (IWT) Department were suspended for negligence of duty, while senior ministers admitted that there were lapses and the "guilty" will be punished.
