Mourning in Vrindavan: ‘Turn the boat back brother’, the last scream of the devotees and then the laughing families turned into dead bodies.

Mathura (Vrindavan): Heart-wrenching news has come out from Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh. The horrific boat accident that took place on Friday afternoon at KC Ghat in Vrindavan has left the entire country numb. 10 people have died in this accident, but now the real reason for this incident has come to light, it reveals such carelessness of the sailor that your blood will boil after listening to it. According to the eyewitnesses, if the sailor had accepted one small thing from the devotees, then perhaps these 10 lives would have been among us today.

Passion for speed and fear of devotees

The accident happened around 2:30 pm on Friday afternoon. A group of 37 devotees from Ludhiana and Hisar of Punjab had reached Vrindavan for darshan. In the enthusiasm of devotion, all these devotees boarded a motorboat from KC Ghat. As soon as the boat reached the middle of Yamuna, the sailor increased its speed. The devotees got scared after seeing the strong waves and the speed of the boat. The people on the boat repeatedly requested the driver with folded hands to ‘Brother, reduce the speed’, but the sailor remained intoxicated with his mastery and ignored everyone.

Sailor taken to the brink of death

The boat was moving in the direction where Yamuna River Front work was going on. There the pontoon bridge was being removed using bulldozers. The biggest negligence was that despite such a dangerous work, there was no safety fence or warning board. When the devotees saw bulldozers and heavy iron pontoons in front, they were shocked. He shouted for the last time – ‘Now don’t take the boat forward, take it back’. The boat stopped for a moment, but instead of turning back, the driver suddenly pressed the accelerator again.

And prayers turned into screams

The uncontrolled speed of the boat and the strong gust of wind took the form of time. The boat collided directly with the iron pontoon bridge. As soon as the collision occurred, the boat lost its balance and all the passengers leaned to one side in panic. Within no time the boat overturned in the middle of the river. The divers and PAC personnel present on the spot saved 22 people by risking their lives, but 10 devotees died due to drowning in the depths of Yamuna. Most of the dead include women.

Government and administration in action

After this horrific negligence, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has adopted a strict stance. Orders have been given to register an FIR against the team that removed the pontoon bridge and the concerned department. Till late night, NDRF and Army conducted search operations with the help of drone cameras. Expressing grief over this tragic incident, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and CM Yogi have announced financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh each to the families of the deceased and Rs 50 thousand each to the injured.

Devotees who lost their lives in the accident: Kavita Rani (49), Charanjeet (40), Rikesh Gulati, Madhur Bahl, Asha Rani, Pinky Bahl (38), Anju Gulati, Ishaan Kataria, Meenu Bansal and Sapna Hans (55).