Grief-stricken families of the deceased lions Club members here who lost their children and bread-earners have reacted sharply against the picnic organisers, alleging that their carelessness and hasty decisions led to the Hirakud boat tragedy on February 9.
These are the persons who saw their dear family members taking watery grave and hence, can never forget the agonising moment. The boat capsize had claimed 31 lives. They demanded criminal proceedings against the organisers.
The public relations officer (PRO) of the lions Club had died in this mishap. His daughter Srusti and brother-in-law Sanjay also died. But due to the sincerity of his house servant Makardhwaja Bhoi, his two sons and wife escaped. The survivors have now burst out against the lions Club organisers.
“Even if it was a family picnic and a good number of ladies and children were there, but the organisers made separate tents for drinking of liquors,” alleged late Rajesh Agrawal’s brothers, Suresh Agrawal and Mahesh Agrawal. “If the male members had allowed children and ladies of the ill-fated boat to move to rescue boats first, the mishap could have been averted,” they said further, adding that instead the dominant male members first though about their own safety with least regard for the safety of the ladies and children during the hour of crisis.
It proves that the organisers totally ignored the safety of the vulnerable persons in the sinking boat, they charged.
Another bereaved family has also made similar allegations. Gurmit Singh Saluja, elder brother of late Gurdip Singh Saluja, is also very critical of the activities of the lions Club members on the day the tragedy struck. “While police arrested the boatmen in this tragic incident, no action so far has been taken against the influential persons of the lions Club,” they alleged, demanding criminal proceedings against the organisers.
They further lamented that not a single member of the lions Club has visited the bereaved families to show sympathy. They further demanded that the persons who insisted the boat man to drive the boat when it was overloaded should be taken to task.