Vrindavan boat accident: Punjab Chief Minister raised questions on security arrangements, said- will talk to UP government

Jagraon. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said on Saturday that when the boat capsized in Vrindavan, there were more people on board and no one had a life jacket. He attributed the accident to lack of safety measures. Mann also said that one more body has been recovered from the river, taking the death toll from Friday’s accident to 11, while four people are still missing.

After the boat accident in Mathura on Friday, rescue workers had safely evacuated 22 pilgrims from the Yamuna river. He said that his government will talk to the Uttar Pradesh administration so that such incidents do not happen again. The Chief Minister said, “Lakhs of people go there to visit. Such incidents should not happen again and we will definitely talk to them in this regard.

Mann expressed condolences to the families of the victims. Most of the dead were residents of Jagraon and Dugri areas of Ludhiana district of Punjab. The Chief Minister said, “11 bodies have been recovered and four people are still missing.” He said that a team of divers is trying to find the missing people.

Mann told reporters after attending the last rites of the deceased in Jagraon that the body of Manik Tandon, one of the five missing people, has been found. He also visited the homes of the victims in Jagraon and expressed condolences. When asked about the alleged negligence of the boat operators, Mann said that there were 32 people on board the boat against the capacity of 15-16 people.

“There were no life jackets,” he said. It is a matter of investigation.” Mann said, ”It seems that somewhere there is a lack of measures related to the safety of the people.” According to officials, a group of about 120 pilgrims had set out on a four-day journey to Vrindavan in two buses on April 9 and the people affected by the boat accident were part of it. Uttar Pradesh authorities on Saturday arrested the operator of the boat that crashed.