From Our Correspondent
Guwahati: Six more bodies were recovered on Wednesday even as the BSF and NDRF personnel were continuing operations to trace over 200 who had gone missing after their motor boat capsized in the mighty Brahmaputra River in Dhubri district of Assam on Monday evening.
The BSF is organizing a DIG level meeting with Border Guards of Bangladesh (BGB) on Thursday to facilitate coordination for the operation to trace over 200 missing people.
The area being close to the international border, there are possibilities of bodies being swept towards that country. A BSF source informed that the meeting would be held in Dhubri district.
The district magistrate and superintendent of police of Dhubri district and their counterparts from Kurigram district in Bangladesh will also participate in the meeting. Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi accompanied by Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi paid visit to boat tragedy struck Medortari ghat in Dhubri district and spent about 45 minutes talking to next of kin of boat tragedy victims while thousands of people living gathered at the spot looking for an opportunity to air their grievances before the Congress leader.
Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi played the role of the mediator while Rahul Gandhi tried to strike rapport with the aggrieved family members of victims of the boat tragedy.
These people could not speak Hindi and conversed only in a language that is an impure form of Bengali.
Sources informed that the local people apprised Rahul of the sorry state of river transport service which is the lifeline in that backward area that hardly has any all weather road.
Assam Environment and Forest Minister Rakibul Hussain who has been deputed by the chief minister to oversee the rescue operation and provide aid to victims and their families, informed that
Rahul Gandhi took stock of the entire rescue operation too besides talking to family members of victims of the tragedy.
Rahul arrived at the spot at around 3 P.M. by a chopper from Guwahati Airport where he had arrived around 2-15 P.M.
Minister Rakibul Hussain informed that the administration has called for formal complaints from the people about those who had gone missing after the tragedy.
Confusion continues to prevail over the actual recovery of bodies. While Assam government claims to have got custody of 23 bodies so far, unofficial sources quoting locals put the recovery at over 45.
Divers on Wednesday fished out bodies of five passengers of Monday’s ferry disaster here, taking the death count to 108, but the fate of at least 250 was still unknown.
Indian and Bangladeshi officials will on Thursday discuss the issue of recovery and repatriation of bodies of ill-fated passengers.
There were reports that four bodies have been recovered at the banks of the river in Bangladesh. However, there has been no confirmation from either side in this regard.
The ill-fated ferry, owned by one Syed Ali, has been found have been running without a legal permit.
Inland Waterways officials said the machine-operated ferry was constructed way back in 1994. Meanwhile, search and rescue mission continued for the third day as over 250 persons remained untraced and only 22 bodies recovered so far.
“Three bodies were recovered this morning, while two more were fished out in the afternoon of Wednesday. As of now, 42 people have been registered as missing,” Dhubri SP Pradip Chandra Saloi said.
The ferry, which capsized after being hit by a storm, was carrying around 380 passengers. While around 80 persons swam ashore, others are feared either missing or dead.
“As per our data, 22 bodies have been recovered,” state Environment and Forest Minister Rockybul Hussain said, during a visit to the disaster site. Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi flew down to Medartary ghat of Dhubri district, the site of the accident, this afternoon and took stock of the situation.
However, the victim’s families said that Gandhi’s visit, instead of being a balm, had resulted in hampering the search operation.
“The anguish over the VVIP visit is logical as search operation has yielded no result. We should be allowed to be involved in the search operation,” Dhubri resident Islam Ali, whose wife Rani Begum is still missing, said. “We urged Rahul Gandhi and the chief minister for thorough search operation so that we will come to know about the whereabouts about our relative”, Ali said.
A new 30-member team of the National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) reached the accident spot on Wednesday morning to help in the search operation.
A senior NDRF officer said the muddy water and swift currents were hampering operations and it was not possible for divers to dive deep into the water.
Meanwhile, in Guwahati, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said the state government would lay emphasis on development of river transport “in a big way as many people use ferry and boats as a mode of transport”. (With inputs from PTI)