Says ‘Aashwasan Nahi, Kareke Dikhangey’

NAZIR GANAIE

Srinagar- Lieutenant Governor, Jammu and Kashmir, Manoj Sinha Monday visited the Gandbal area of Srinagar, where six people drowned to death last week after a boat capsized in the river Jhelum.

LG Sinha visited the families of deceased persons and also met the families whose kin are still missing. He said that Sinha also visited the spot where the rescue operation was currently undergoing.

According to locals, the LG assured that he would ensure that all the pending works at the Gandbal area in Soiteng in Srinagar are taken up immediately. “Aashwasan Nahi, Kareke Dikhangey. (We will not just do lip service, we will ensure that all the work is done on priority,” LG was quoted as saying. “LG has assured that in the victim families, the next of kin would also be considered for the job.”

Six people, including four minors, died last Tuesday after their boat capsized midway in the Jhelum River at Gandbal near Nowgam. They were crossing the swollen river in a boat with the help of a rope which had snapped.

The deaths have triggered outrage in the Valley after reports that authorities were delaying the construction of a bridge sanctioned in 2017.

Locals have expressed their satisfaction with LG’s visit and his prompt response to their concerns. “We are satisfied that at least he felt the pain of the families and ensured the visit personally along with the official machinery,” Sajad Ahmad, a local, told The Presspact.

Inspector General of Police, Kashmir, V.K. Birdi said the search operation, which was halted during the night, resumed on Wednesday but there was no breakthrough and three persons are still missing.

“The divers, who understand the water and its currents better, are searching the spots where there is a high probability of finding the missing,” he said.

“Generally, bodies float to the surface after some time because of rigor mortis setting in but it has not happened. We have alerted all the police stations along the banks of the river to look into it,” Birdi said.

Pertinently, teams of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the Jammu and Kashmir police have been pressed into action. They said the Indian Navy’s marine commandos (Marcos) were also on the job. Officials said the missing include Mushtaq Ahmad and his son Hazik. A woman, Firdousa, and her two sons, Tanvir and Mudasir, died on Tuesday and their bodies were retrieved. The dead include four minors.