JHARSUGUDA: At least one person drowned and seven others went missing after a boat capsized in Mahanadi river near Saradha in Lakhanpur block of the district on Friday. The deceased, 40-year-old Radhika Nisad, was a resident of Anjolipalli in Raigad district of nearby Chhattisgarh.
Sources said around 50 people from Anjolipalli had come to Jharsuguda on a pleasure trip. In the afternoon, they hired a boat from Saradha ferry ghat, located near the Odisha-Chhattisgarh border, to visit a temple at nearby Patharseni island in Bargarh’s Ambabhona block.
After offering prayers, they were returning to Saradha ghat when their boat capsized just a few hundred metre away from the river bank. On hearing their screams, local fishermen and boatmen jumped into the river and managed to save most of the passengers. However, eight persons could not be traced. Later, locals recovered Radhika’s body from the river. Her son, fortunately, was brought safely to shore. The rescued persons included a three-month-old infant and several kids. Two of the rescued persons, who suffered injuries, were shifted to the local hospital.
On being informed, IG, North Himanshu Lal, RDC Srikant Prusty, Jharsuguda collector Aboli Sunil Naravane and SP Smit Parmar rushed to the spot to take stock of the situation. Raigad collector Kartikeya Goyal and SP Dibyang Patel also extended assistance for the rescue operation.
Besides, on the direction of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, a team of five scuba divers along with two rescue cameras reached Jharsuguda by air in the evening and were engaged in the rescue operation.
Expressing his condolences, the CM announced a compensation of Rs 4 lakh to the family of the deceased. Naveen also instructed the district administration to ensure proper treatment to the rescued people.
Till reports last came in, the rescue operation was still underway with emergency lights arranged by the Jharsuguda collector. Senior officials were present on the spot.
Eye-witnesses said the mishap took place as the boat was overloaded with passengers and three motorcycles. Besides, the boat didn’t have fitness certificate or valid papers to operate in the river. It also lacked safety gear for passengers.