Assam boat collision: At least one person was killed and 20 people were missing after a large boat sank near Nimati Ghat in the Brahmaputra River in the Jorhat district of Assam on Wednesday. A total of 120 passengers were on board the ferry that was the victim of the accident. The officers provided this information. The collision took place as the private boat “Ma Kamala” was en route from Nimati Ghat to Majuli and the state boat “Tripkai” was traveling from Majuli, officials said.
An official from the Inland Water Transport (IWT) department said the boat had overturned and sank. Another IWT official said there were more than 120 passengers on the boat, but many of them were rescued using the department-owned “Tripkai” ferry. Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) chief executive Gyanendra Tripathi told PTI that a woman rescued from the boat was taken to hospital, where she died. He said: “We have news of about 15 to 20 people missing. Several teams from the NDRF and SDRF are carrying out rescue operations with the help of the Army and divers.
An official statement said three senior officers from the IWT department were suspended for negligence in connection with the accident. Jorhat deputy commissioner Ashok Burman said 41 people had been rescued so far. Burman said army divers will join the operation with a few advanced machines. He said there were also 27 motorcycles in the boat. The NDRF and SDRF have started search and rescue operations, but they are facing difficulties due to the darkness after sunset.
Union Home Secretary Amit Shah called on Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to inquire about the crash, the rescue operation and the status of those rescued . Sarma tweeted: “He said the central government is ready to provide all the help it can get. I am grateful to him. Sarma expressed concern over the accident and called on Majuli and Jorhat district administrations to speed up the rescue operation with the help of the NDRF and SDRF. He also asked Minister Bimal Bora to go to the scene of the accident. Sarma asked Sameer Kumar Sinha, senior secretary to the chief minister, to monitor developments around the clock.
“The chief minister himself will visit Nimti Ghat tomorrow to take stock of the situation,” the CMO said in a statement. Three senior IWT officials have been suspended for alleged negligence in connection with the accident.
An official statement said “three officers have been suspended.” These include Bikramaditya Choudhary, executive engineer in charge of IWT in Dibrugarh division, Mukut Gogoi, deputy executive engineer in charge of IWT in Jorhat sub-division and Ratul Tamuli, junior engineer, IWT, sub-division of Jorhat.
