PATNA: Vaishali district administration on Wednesday constituted a committee to inquire into the boat mishap that took place at Raghopur in Bihar’s Vaishali district, in which 13 children, including nine girls, died and six others were injured.
Preliminary investigation found negligence of the circle officer (CO) and station house officer (SHO) of Raghopur, following which district magistrate Varsha Singh issued show cause notices to them. She also ordered the withholding of salaries of both the officers. Varsha Singh personally visited the site of occurrence and met the members of the bereaved families.
“Show cause notices have been issued to the CO and SHO for their negligence. I met the family members of the victims and assured all possible help,” she said.
Singh said that further disciplinary action against CO and SHO would be taken after the receipt of the report by the committee. Local people had complained to the block-level officers about ferrying boats that were not in proper condition.
The officers have been asked to reply at the earliest. The district administration has announced ex-gratia of Rs.4 lakh each to the deceased’s families. While nine girls and four boys died in the incident, six others were rescued and are undergoing treatment.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also announced Rs. two lakh each to the deceased’s families and Rs.50,000 each to those undergoing treatment in hospitals. SDRF teams were still engaged in rescue operations, a statement issued by the DM office said.
Meanwhile, the boat tragedy took a political turn with Union Minister and LJP(RV) chief Chirag Paswan paying a visit to NMCH in Patna, where the seriously ill were undergoing treatment.
Chirag represents Hajipur (SC) constituency in the Lok Sabha. Later, talking to the media, Chirag said that he has assured the deceased’s kin that he will ensure accountability of the officers concerned and initiate action against them.
He said that locals had informed the administration about a hole in the boat that capsized in the Ganga. However, no action was taken to redress the grievances of the residents.
Union minister also expressed his surprise over so many minors travelling in a country boat at night. “Under what circumstances was the boat allowed to ply in the swollen river?” he asked.
The Hajipur MP said that he would share the information provided to him by residents with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He also urged the state government to initiate stern action against the CO and SHO concerned.