A Public Interest litigation was filed in the Odisha High Court on Monday seeking a high-level administrative inquiry into the last week’s Jagatsinghpur boat tragedy in which at least five persons, including four minor girls, died. Human rights activist and advocate Prabir Kumar Das filed the petition seeking a direction to the State Government to implement the Odisha Boat Rule of 2004 in letter and spirit.
Das also sought a direction from the court to award Rs10 lakh damage to each of the victims’ families and free treatment to all those injured in the tragedy. last Friday evening, a rickety country boat carrying over 20 persons capsized in the middle of river Bilaukhai near Nachhipur Ghat.
Shockingly, the boat was without a trained boatman and was oared by a novice, whose whereabouts is not known yet.