Boat capsize
NDRF personnel carrying out rescue operation in Brahmaputra. File Photo: UB Photos

The Leader of the Opposition in the Assam Legislative Assembly  Debabrata Saikia has expressed grief at the mechanized boat mishap in  Guwahati on Wednesday which is believed to have left several passengers dead
as there were 40 people on board in the boat.

Saikia said that negligence on the part of the Government and boat operators plays a major part in such accidents.

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He said that apart  from poor training, dangerous work practices such as overloading and  insufficient safety measures, inadequate and virtually non-existent enforcement by government agencies were root causes of such disasters.

Saikia said that the government should own up responsibility for  the latest tragedy as it has not woken up to the reality exposed by incident after incident, such as the ones in Dhubri in 2012 and Goalpara in  September last year.

The Government had promised preventive action  and strict enforcement of rules for passenger boats after the Goalpara  incident, but today’s tragedy has exposed that nothing has been actually done on the ground.

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Saikia condoled the death of innocent people and demanded  that the Government should provide adequate compensation to the  bereaved families.

 

Smita Bhattacharyya is Northeast Now Correspondent in Jorhat. She can be reached at: [email protected]

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