GUWAHATI:
A circle officer is missing after a single-engine mechanised boat capsized in the Brahmaputra at Bhashanir Char Part-l in West Assam’s Dhubri district at around 10.30 am on September 29.
The boat carrying 29 people capsized after hitting an under-construction pillar of the Dhubri-Phulbari bridge over the Brahmaputra.
While most of the people managed to swim across the river and some school children were rescued by local residents, the circle officer of Dhubri Revenue Circle Sanju Das went missing in the mighty river.
The circle officer Sanju Das along with lot mondal Nomez Uddin Ahmed and field officer of District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) Peter Saha went to Aminer Char near Dhubri Town for a field visit to a soil erosion site.
During the return journey, the boat capsized in the mighty river after it hit an under-construction pillar which was submerged under the flooded river.
Locals complained that the boat was overloaded with more than 50 passengers and it did not have any live jackets and other security features, which were required as per the new law of the state government to prevent such tragedy in the river.
Troops of BSF, CRPF, SDRF and NDRF are conducting an operation in the river in search of the missing circle officer,
“Six teams of SDRF and NDRF are conducting search operations for the missing circle officer. more team and divers from Bongaigaon are coming to assist the operation,” Dhudbri deputy commissioner Anbamuthan MP told The Meghalayan.
“We have initiated an investigation against the L&T for the unsafe pillar, without markers, due to which the unfortunate incident occurred”, the DC said. The DC also said that the construction company should have taken safety measures to prevent such incidents.
“They could have put safety markers and marked the area which is under construction and was submerged”, said the DC.
“We are focusing on the recovery of the missing circle officer Sanju Das. We are inquiring with few L&T officials, who have been detained for negligence on the part of the construction company which is constructing the Bridge,” said Dhubri SP Abhijit Gurav.
Notably, single-engine boats have been banned in the Brahmaputra after a mechanised boat capsized in the river near the Ashwaklanta temple in North Guwahati on September 5, 2018.
“This boat is meant for carrying goods. How a circle officer along with a lot of passengers could travel it is a matter that needed to be probed,” Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told reporters in Guwahati.