Chilika Boat Capsize: 4 Bodies Recovered, Search Operation Complete

Balugaon: Four more bodies were fished out of Chilika lake near Balugaon in Odisha’s Ganjam district on Sunday morning, taking the death toll in the boat mishap to six.The deceased have been identified as Pramodini Das, Shradhanjali Das, Sudhanshu Sekhar Das (4), Meera Patnaik (11), Kalpana Mohanty and her sister.

As informed by Chief Fire Officer Sukant Sethi, the search operation was carried out by 50 Fire brigade staff, 40 personnel of the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF), 16 Scuba divers, local fishermen and Navy personnel. Besides, six power boats were also engaged in the operation. It lasted for around 17 hours.

Expressing grief, chief minister Naveen Patnaik had directed the SRC, Khurda and Ganjam district administration to expedite rescue operations and provide free medical treatment to the injured. The chief minister also announced an ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh to families of the deceased and free treatment for all injured persons.

Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, in a tweet, prayed for speedy recovery of the injured.

Sources said 16 tourists ; Rabi Narayan Das, his wife Promodini Das, son Sudhanshu Sekhar Das, and daughter Shradhanjali of Sarankul area of Nayagarh district, Pradip Mohanty, his two daughters and two nieces of Ranpur area of Nayagarh district, Bhisma Patra of Jharpada area of Bhubaneswar, Kalpana Mohanty and her sister of Narasinghpur area in Cuttack district and Meera Patnaik, daughter of Kailash Patnaik of Balugaon area in Ganjam district had gone to the Kalijai temple inside Chilika lake in a private boat, from Balugaon jetty, on Saturday morning.

After a darshan of Goddess Kalijai, they were on the way to Balugaon when the tragedy struck. The boatman lost control of the boat due to sudden inclement weather conditions. Strong wind and thundershowers lashed the lake area and the boat capsized
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The local fishermen in the nearby area, where the mishap took place, managed to rescue seven tourists and retrieve three dead tourists
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Following information, a fire brigade team rushed to the spot and rescued three tourists. The 10 rescued tourists were admitted to a government hospital in Balugaon. Later, two of them were shifted to Capital Hospital in Bhubaneswar after their condition deteriorated.

Asked whether the boat had any safety measures, Khurda collector Nirmal Mishra said several measures are being taken for the safety of the tourists. “The district administration has made mandatory provision for registration and insurance of all private boats ferrying in the lake. Besides, all boats have been provided with adequate number of life jackets,” he added.

The collector, however, said the district administration will take appropriate steps following the tragic incident.