Balugaon: A day after the Chilika boat mishap that took six lives including that of a minor girl, the owner of the ill-fated boat has been arrested. The arrest of Basanta Behera was made by the local police Sunday evening.
Soon after the mishap, several questions arose over the boat. It was not clear whether its licence had been renewed – for which a fitness certificate was a pre-requisite. It also needed to be ascertained whether the boat had carried safety devices like life jackets as is mandatory under the Odisha Boat Rules.
The Saturday’s tragedy is not the first one. Such mishaps have been occurring often and the administration is more often than not caught napping. Boats without safety measures ferrying tourists is a common sight here.
The boat capsized Saturday evening after it was hit by a thunderstorm, accompanied by strong winds and rains. While bodies of two persons including a minor girl were recovered Saturday, four more bodies were retrieved Sunday. Twelve others had been rescued and admitted to a hospital.
PNN
