Daringbadi: A few days after six women of Kirikuti panchayat in this block of Kandhamal district were rescued while being swept away in river Khadag when a rope they were using to cross the river snapped midway, the administration launched boat service for the villagers Sunday.
The block administration launched the boat service for the residents of Burangia, Budelpadi and Kukermaha villages in the panchayat, said BDO Trilochan Patra.
The BDO accompanied by APO Kedar Panda, engineer Tusharkanta Sethi, Pranay Mishra and Kulamani Behera reached the river connecting Burangia village and launched the boat service.
The development comes five days after Orissa POST carried a story about six women including two pregnant women who fell into the river while precariously crossing it with a rope. The women were rescued by three youths.
The boat purchased at a cost of Rs 80,000 from Malud in Krushnaprasad block of Puri district can ferry 10 passengers at a time with provision of life jackets, the BDO said. The boat will ferry passengers till a bridge across the river gets completed, he added.
The six women – Saraswati Amayat (eight-month pregnant), Parbati Amayat (six-month pregnant), Sourendri Amayat, Bilasini Pradhani, Tilotama Bindhani and Srimati Amayat were on their way to Daringbadi community health centre (CHC) for a routine check-up when the incident occured. They were admitted to the CHC for a check-up after their rescue.
The three youths – Surat Mallick, Ramesh Pradhan and Basant Amayat – were applauded for their brave act. The villagers had again attached the snapped rope to cross the river when the launch of the boat service has come as a boon.
Work on the under-construction bridge across the river is yet to get completed though it started in 2014. A girl had saved the lives of her classmates while they were being swept away after the rope they were using had snapped midway three years back.
PNN