The tourism department had organised its annual “Patang Utsav” (kite fest) on the occasion of Makar Sankranti at the Sabbalpur bank off the NIT ghat.
The festival of Makar Sankranti turned tragic when two overloaded boats capsized in River Ganga, near the NIT Ghat, claiming at least 20 lives and grievously injuring several others around sunset on Saturday. Among the deceased are several women and children. “In all, 20 bodies have been recovered,” Patna SSP Manu Maharaaj said. Patna DM Sanjay Kumar Agarwal said prima facie the accident took place due to overloading.
The Bihar tourism department had organised its annual “Patang Utsav” (kite fest) on the occasion of Makar Sankranti at the Sabbalpur bank off the NIT ghat. The administration had also arranged for free boat passage to the bank and thousands of people participated in the event throughout the day.According to eye-witnesses, the accident took place around sunset when an overloaded boat, with about 50-60 people aboard, collided with another boat and both drowned only a few metres away from the bank. A video of the accidents shows, the second boat was trying to ease the load from the overladen boat midstream and both capsized.
While few people swam their way across to the bank, several were feared trapped under the boat. About 10 injured were admitted to the Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) for treatment.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar expressed grief over the accident and has ordered a high-level probe into it. He has also asked the officials to find out what was the programme for which such a large number of people had travelled to that area of the river and what arrangements had been made for it. An ex gratia of Rs four lakh each will be given to the kin of those who died in the boat accident, state disaster management department principal secretary Pratyaya Amrit said.
Locals claim the administration took considerable time to reach the accident spot, which may have added to the toll figures. “It was only after some media persons started circulating the news prominently on social and electronic media, did the officials rush to the spot. Initially it was being said that only 4-6 people were aboard and all have been rescued,” he added. The incident brings back memories of 2014 Dussehra stampede and 2012 Chaath stampede which claimed over 50 lives in the state capital.
Rescue operations will be underway throughout the night and toll figures were likely to increase as several were feared stranded till the time of filing the report.
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