In a tragic incident, a boat capsized in the Jhelum river in the Gandabal area of area of Batwara in Srinagar leaving mother, twin kids, boatman among 6 dead
Entire Kashmir plunged into deep shock and grief after a boat ferrying school kids, locals and a few non-J&K residents capsized at Gandabal area of Batwara in Srinagar on Tuesday resulting in the death of six persons including a mother, her two children and the boatman.
The incident happened at 8:15 am when a boat with at least 15 persons on board including two women, four school kids and locals was trying to cross from Gandabal to Batwara. The two school kids, accompanied by their mother, were heading for their school on the other side of the river Jehlum.Due to the incessant rains for the past two days in Kashmir, the level and flow of water in river Jehlum was high compared to normal days. As the boat man tried to cross the river with the help of the rope, the rope suddenly got cut with the result, the boat lost its control. The boat hit the iron poles installed for the construction of the bridge and all of a sudden, the boat broke into two or more pieces and all those who were on board started crying for help. As the water level was high, we were helpless. We could only see women, children and others drowning.”Eye-witnesses said.
“I could see kids drowning with their school bags floating on the water. A woman was somehow able to wave her hand for some time, but after around ten minutes, she vanished too,” another eye-witness said. The videos of dead floating on the river Jehlum took the social media by storm plunging entire Kashmir in a state of shock and despair.
Locals of Gandabal blamed the incomplete bridge for the tragedy. “There has been a long delay in completion of the bridge. Had there been a proper bridge, these young kids would have perhaps been alive,” they said.Among the dead were a woman and her two twin kids, who were off to school. “Their mother would always accompany them to the school. She would drop them at the school and come back when school was off for the day,” a wailing woman said.As per locals, SDRF and other rescue teams allegedly took time to reach the spot to start their operations. The SDRF later retrieved the bodies of six people that include the woman identified as Firdousa, wife of Fayaz Ahmed Malik, and her twin children— Tanvir Fayaz and Mudasir Fayaz, a father-son duo and the boatman. Later, police recovered four school bags, belonging to the deceased kids, from river Jehlum at Chattabal Vier.Talking to news agency , Deputy Commissioner Srinagar Bilal Mohiudin Bhat said that 15 people including seven minors and eight adults were on board the boat. “Six people including two kids and their mother died. Three are still missing and the rest were rescued,” he said.
IGP Kashmir V K Bhirdi told reporters late this evening, said that initial inquiry suggested that six people died in the incident and three are still missing. “Rest were rescued. We have alerted the police stations across Srinagar to keep a watch on the Jehlum river while SDRF, NDRF and even MARCOS have been pressed into service to trace the three-missing people,” he said.Thousands attend funeral of Six deceased: Amid tears and sobs, thousands of people offered funeral prayers of six individuals including mother, her two kids, who drowned to death after a boat capsized in Srinagar’s Gandabal area of Srinagar. The funeral was jointly offered for five deceased including a woman and later for another individual as well. The funeral was led by religious cleric Abdul Lateef Alqandi with moist eyes.As per reports the locals lamented the absence of a bridge within the locality, saying that work was started almost a decade ago, but unfortunately the work was never completed till now, causing huge inconvenience to the inhabitants here.
“Despite elapsing over a decade, the construction of the bridge is still in the initial stage, which shows the people have been taken for granted so far. We could only show our anger, but the fact is our pleas and requests fell on deaf ears during these years,” Ali Muhammad, a local resident said with tears in his eyes, wailing over the loss of precious lives in the locality.“One cannot imagine the lethargy the concerned authorities have shown so far. Today’s mayhem could have been avoided in case the bridge would have been constructed on time,” he said, adding that the high and tall claims being made by the administration today would serve no cause, but the construction of the bridge and completing in within the shortest possible time would certainly end the miseries of the people.Sajad Ahmad Naqeeb, Chief Engineer, Roads and Building (R&B) department when contacted said that the delay in construction was due to some technical issues.
“Some technical issues have led to the delay in construction of the work. Besides, the delay in getting the funds released also played a spoilsport,” he said, adding that as soon as the water level recedes, the work will be started again and will be completed by June this year.The delay in construction of the bridge at Gandabal area of Batwara might have not caught the eyes of people so far, but today its absence left the entire Kashmir in shock after this tragic incident.
In a tweet, the LG said: “I am deeply grieved by the loss of lives due to a boat accident in Srinagar. My thoughts are with the bereaved families and I pray to the Almighty to give them strength to withstand this immense loss. Team of SDRF, Army, and other agencies are carrying out relief and rescue work.
The administration is providing all possible help to the bereaved families who have lost their near and dear ones and medical facilities to those who have been injured. MARCOS teams have also been alerted. I am constantly monitoring the situation and guiding the team on the ground.”
Divisional Commissioner, DC Srinagar visit bereaved households, provide Rs 5 lakh ex-gratia to NoK of deceased, Rs 50,000 to injured; say LG Sinha closely monitoring situation; IGP says 14 teams deployed, focus on sites having high probability of finding missing persons, search Ops to continue till missing persons are traced.Teams from SDRF, NDRF, Indian Army’s MARCOS, Fire and Emergency, along with other officials, are intensifying efforts to locate and retrieve the bodies.
As per reports the Lieutenant Governor-led administration provided financial assistance to the families of the deceased and those who sustained injuries in the incident.Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, Vijay Kumar Bidhuri and Deputy Commissioner (DC) Srinagar, Dr Bilal Mohi-Ud-Din Bhat, visited the Gandbal area on Wednesday and met with the family members of the deceased.
They expressed heartfelt condolences and solidarity with those affected by the tragic incident. Deeply saddened by the loss of six lives in the boat capsizing, they extended government assistance to the bereaved families.As a gesture of support, the next of kin of the deceased were provided an ex-gratia relief of Rs 5 lakh each, while Rs 50,000 each was given to the four injured individuals.
Accompanied by Additional Deputy Commissioner Srinagar, Syed Ahmad Kataria, SDM East, Murtaza Ahmad, Tehsildar Panthachowk, Muzamil Ahmad, and other officials from the District Administration Srinagar.The Div Com, on the occasion, said the search and rescue operation continues in the area as efforts are on to locate three missing persons, comprising two children and an adult.14 teams, including those from NDRF, SDRF, ARMY, River Police, and other agencies, were deployed for rescue operations. The operation is scheduled to continue throughout the night and will resume in the morning,” he said.
Bidhuri said Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha is actively monitoring the situation and has announced financial assistance for the families of the deceased and the injured.Regarding the bridge construction, the Div Com said, “We have verified the information, and the work is expected to be completed by June of this year.”Meanwhile, the ongoing rescue operation to trace the bodies of the three missing individuals has been intensified following the boat capsizing incident.An official said the rescue operation, to retrieve the three missing persons, including a father-son duo identified as Showkat Ahmad and his son Hazik Showkat, along with minor boy Farhan Parray, resumed in the first light of the morning after being halted last night at around 11 pm. It continued all day, he said.
The operation continued all day, with the rescue teams from SDRF, NDRF, Indian Army’s MARCOS, Fire and Emergency, and other officials making all-out efforts to retrieve the bodies.“We have been here in Jhelum of Batwara since around 6 am, continuing our search. Initially, we started from the Batwara area in the morning where the boat capsized. We first scanned the incident spot and soon moved forward to search other areas in the river for the body,” ASI SDRF, Abdul Rashid said.He said the water flow was very high on Tuesday, however, today it had receded, while no traces of the body were found. “We are hopeful of recovering the bodies,” he said.Inspector General of Police Kashmir VK Birdi told reporters that the search operation to trace the three missing persons from river Jhelum is underway. “We have alerted all the police stations along river Jhelum to keep watch on bodies,” Birdi said, adding that specialised divers who are searching for the missing persons are focusing on sites where there is a high probability of finding the missing persons.