Three people, including two college girls, died, and about 20 others were reported missing after a mechanised country boat sank in the Brahmaputra off north Guwahati on Wednesday afternoon.
Ferries and mechanised boats, called bhootbhooti , are a popular mode of transport between Guwahati and habitations in north Guwahati, which face each other.
Hits concrete
Survivors of the mishap said the boat that had set sail from Guwahati at about 1 p.m. It struck a concrete structure of an ongoing Japan-funded water supply project off Aswakranta in north Guwahati. Among the passengers on board were school and college students.
Officials of the Inland Water Transport Department said the boat had 24 people on board, including two operators. A spokesperson said 20 people were either rescued or had managed to swim to safety, while three died and one was missing.
But Kamal Kumar Baishya, Deputy Commissioner of the Kamrup district, said the boat officially had 22 people on board, “but we learned it was carrying more than 30 people.”
Split in two
“The boat split into two after the impact and sank rapidly. We somehow managed to survive,” said a survivor who swam to safety. Four passengers in a serious condition were sent to the Guwahati Medical College and Hospital for treatment.
Teams of Army divers, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) reached the spot for rescue operations less than 30 minutes after the boat started sinking. The rescue operation, called off before dusk, would be resumed on Thursday, Mr. Baishya said.
The dead were identified as Gopal Das, Ankita Barua and Dimpee Das. The last two were students of Guwahati’s Cotton University and residents of north Guwahati.
Boats halted
Assam Transport Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary ordered an immediately halt to the plying of mechanised country boats on the Brahmaputra river. “This order will remain effective during the entire rainy season,” he said, adding that the Transport Department has readied a draft bill for the constitution of a regulatory body for passenger ferry services.
Car in Dikhow
A joint team of divers from the Indian Navy, Army’s Para commandos, NDRF, and SDRF on Wednesday morning retrieved a car with five people aboard, which fell fallen into the Dikhow river in eastern Assam’s Sivasagar district five days ago.
The operation in the river, a tributary of the Brahmaputra, lasted some 90 hours.
The car, driven by Guwahati-based businessman Haren Bora, 52, went missing at about 9 p.m. on Saturday. His mother Punou (85), wife Phunu (45) and daughters Simpi (21) and Munmi (18), were travelling with him.
A team of Navy divers from Visakhapatnam was flown in on Monday after Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal requested the Prime Minister’s Office and the Defence Ministry for help.
The vehicle was detected with the help of a heavy-duty magnet at a depth of 20 ft.
