PATNA: Vaishali district administration has taken a slew of measures to prevent the recurrence of boat mishaps in the district.
The move comes in the wake of the death of 13 minor children, including nine girls, when a country boat capsized in the Ganga River under Raghopur block of the district on Tuesday evening.
Vaishali District Magistrate Varsha Singh said that a team of officials would assess the condition of all private boats operating in the Raghopur area. The local administration has details of the owners of registered private boats.
“We have taken a decision to assess the condition of the boats. The boats which are in dilapidated condition will be replaced with new ones,” she told the media after visiting the site of the boat mishap and meeting the family members of the deceased.
She said that at least two teams of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) would be deployed in the Raghopur area to launch rescue operations within 10 minutes of any incident. At present, the SDRF teams are stationed at Kachi-Dargah in Patna district.
As a result, rescue operations get delayed. “Instructions have been issued to start rescue operations at the earliest if any incident is reported,” the DM said, adding that local residents had complained about delays in the start of rescue operations.
She revealed that boat sailing is completely banned after sunset. However, nearly 20 people, mostly children, were onboard at the time of the incident. The boat normally carried five people, but on the fateful day, 20 people were onboard. Moreover, the victims did not choose roads to reach their destination; rather, they preferred to travel by boat to attend the feast, she added.
In addition, a proposal will be sent to the state health department to upgrade the primary health centre at Mohanpur to accommodate more patients. “Though a proposal to upgrade the Mohanpur PHC was sent to the health department, nothing happened,” she added.
In response to a media query, the DM said that six victims were undergoing treatment at Nalanda Medical College and Hospital, where their condition was stated to be stable. She said the process of providing financial aid to the victims had already started.
She said that the preliminary report suggested that the boat that capsized in the river had a large hole in the deck. The hole had been repaired with a piece of steel sheet, which came off while the boat was sailing, the DM revealed.
Earlier in the day, Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai visited Raghopur and inquired about the incident. He also met the families who lost their members in the tragedy. Rai later said that he had asked the DM to conduct an audit of boats ferrying people from Raghopur to Patna and vice versa.
Meanwhile, RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav said that his party would provide compensation to the victims of the boat mishap. Tejashwi represents the Raghopur seat in the Bihar Assembly.
RJD MP Misa Bharti also visited Raghopur to take stock of the situation. “The death of children, all below 15 years of age, is shocking,” she remarked.
