Boat capsizes again at Khatlapura ghat, no causality

Close on the heels of drowning of 11 persons at Khatlapura Ghat of Lower Lake during immersion of Lord Ganesha in the wee hours of Friday, three boatmen were saved from drowning at the same place Khatlapura Ghat on Saturday morning after the boat on which they aboard capsized. The incident occurred when Collector Tarun Pithode has banned operation of boats here following the tragic incident. The administration has not examined the quality of the boats that are floating in the lakes as the keeling over of the boats at the same spot, shows no examination is done there, says a resident in the area. The three youths who were saved were the workers of the Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) who were trying to feed the fish in the Lower Lake.

The boat carrying three youths keeled over in the Lower Lake around 12:30 pm and it created a flutter among the officials in the area. Among those three, two swam through the lake but one was stuck for over a few minutes and then a rescue boat from the BMC was floated to take the youth out. Additional Superintendent of Police (Zone-1) Akhil Patel said that boating is prohibited in the area and they had gone to feed the fish but the boat capsized.

They were not wearing life saving jackets. However, no causalities have been reported in the incident and all of them were saved. He said the feeding of fish is a continuous process and the youths have been saved from drowning. Though they were saved, it brought to the fore the negligence of the civic authorities towards the incident. BMC official A K Raghuvansi was present at the spot and said that the quality of the boats and license is issued by some other department and they have no information about it.