CUTTACK: The administrative probe into the student drowning incident at Mahanadi river near Jobra Barrage got underway on Friday even as the district administration has banned use of the bathing ghat by public and locals.
The three-member probe team comprising additional District Magistrate BB Dash and executive engineers of Mahanadi Barrage Division and Mahanadi South Division visited the incident spot as well as Ravenshaw University and recorded statements of eye witnesses, students and University authorities.
The committee will probe the circumstances under which the students lost their lives and also why they had gone into the river on the fateful day. The examination of witnesses and people concerned with the incident will be completed within the next couple of days and a report submitted soon after, the ADM told mediapersons.
Four students of Ravenshaw University had drowned in the Mahanadi on April 3 after purportedly slipping into the deep waters while taking bath. However, what drove them to take bath in the river is yet to be ascertained.
The committee would also examine the danger along the Barrage downstream and suggest remedial as well as preventive measures. It would demarcate a danger zone for prohibiting entry as the stretch along the downstream has seen frequent accidents.
The administration had immediately put the Barrage ghat out of bounds for public but on Friday, it installed signages warning public of the dangers. The entire ghat would be rendered inaccessible by erection of wall or grills.
However, in view of local opposition, the administration will make alternative arrangements for people who are dependent on the river. A new ghat could be constructed at a safe place on the recommendation of the expert committee, sources said.