The mechanised boats in Assam will soon become a thing of the past.
Stung by the recent boat capsize incident that claimed four lives in Assam and the criticism that followed, the Assam Government has not only decided to suspend the running of mechanised boats from the entire river system of the State but also to convert all the existing single engine ferries to double engine ones with reversible gear.
The decision was taken after the Assam Transport Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary held a review meeting with the top brass of the Inland Water Transport Directorate here.
“As per the safety norms, there must be one life jacket for each passenger in the vessel and it will be mandatory for each passenger to put on the life jacket while boarding the vessel,” said Patowary on Tuesday. He also instructed that the Deputy Commissioners shall conduct safety audit of the ferry vessels within their respective districts.
At least four people died on September 5 this year after a mechanised boat capsised in Brahmaputra river near Assam capital town Guwahati. Hundreds of mechanised boats known as bhut bhutis are an integral part of the river transport system in Assam. Thousands of people in Assam use the bhut bhutis every day to commute to one place from another as well as to transport goods as part of their business. The lackadaisical attitude of the Inland Water Transport Directorate towards ensuring safety measures have, however, led to many capsize and other tragedies in the past.
The Minister also directed that capacity building of IWT staff and other stakeholders must be enhanced on a war-footing. The Minister routed the fact that adequate attention on fleet modernisation was not given in the past for which vessels operating both under IWT and private operators turned old.
The ITW officials informed that during the last two years, work for 15 steel vessels and 3 wooden vessels has been undertaken.
As per the present status, 4 steel vessels in Barak, 1 steel and 3 wooden vessels in Majuli have already been deployed. And the remaining 10 vessels will be completed within this financial year. It may also be mentioned that 3 new vessels will be introduced between Guwahati-North Guwahati shortly.
In addition to this, there has been better coordination with Inland Waterways Authority of India and one Ro-Ro service has already been introduced in the Dhubri-Hatsingimari route. The second and third Ro-Ro service will be introduced between Majuli-Kamalabari and Guwahati-North Guwahati in the month of October and December respectively.