Malkangiri: The commissioning of the long-awaited bridge over Gurupriya seems to have failed to end the communication woes in cut-off regions, as four people, including a three-year-old, have been missing since Monday afternoon when a boat capsized at Chitrakonda reservoir of this district.
According to reports, seven people of Kenduguda village in Nakamamudi panchayat (lately known as Swabhiman Anchal after the inauguration of Gurupriya bridge at Janbai) left for farming activities on a hill inside the reservoir by a country boat in the afternoon. However, the boat suddenly capsized in the middle of the reservoir. While three people were rescued, four, including a kid, are still missing, a report said.
The missing persons were identified as Bulia Shisha (64), Radhika Shisha (30), Dahana Shisha (45) and Manima Shisha (3). Champa Shisha, Lachhma Shisha and Sanyasi Shisha were rescued by the locals.
Meanwhile, the administration has deployed fire brigade personnel to rescue the missing persons.
According to reports, the seven left for their paddy fields on the hill to clean weeds and unwanted growths in a country boat. But water suddenly started gushing into the boat through a hole at its bottom. Though, all the occupants tried their best to drain the water, they efforts failed to yield results and the boat capsized in the middle of the reservoir.
Some other boatmen managed to rescue three persons, but there was no trace of others till the time of filing of this report.
On being directed by the administration, tehsildar Phalguni Majhi and block officials rushed to the spot and supervised rescue operation.
In the wake of loss of lives inside the reservoir, the administration has made registration of boats and use of life jackets mandatory. However, enforcement of such laws is still a distant dream with the officials failing to reach the inaccessible regions of the block for inspection.
On the other hand, the Fisheries Department had provided more than 400 country boats to fishermen to improve their standard of living, but most of them don’t use life jacket when venturing into the reservoir for fishing, said some locals.
The operators of motorized boats also don’t offer the existing life jackets to the passengers at ferry ghats, it was learnt. Strict enforcement of the norms could have saved the lives of these four missing persons, said locals. Local tehsildar and the BDO couldn’t be contacted over the issue.
7 fishermen hurt as boat capsizes
Ganjam: As many as seven fishermen were injured after a boat ferrying them capsized in the middle of the sea. All the fishermen hailed from Sananolia Nuagaon under Ganjam police limits in this district. According to sources, the fishermen had gone to the sea to catch fish early Tuesday morning. Hit by a huge wave, the boat capsized following which the fishermen fell into the sea. Fishermen in other boats rescued them all and admitted to Ganjam community health centre (CHC). The fishermen sustained injuries after the capsized boat fell over them. The injured fishermen have been identified as D Gureya, D Sanyasi, D Kaleya D Simadri, D Aroya, A Mukodu and M Narayan. Among them the condition of Sanyasi was critical, sources said.