Odisha: 20 people have narrow escape as boat capsizes in Ib river

Sundargarh: As many as 20 people had a narrow escape as a boat capsized in Ib river in Sundargarh district of Odisha today.

According to sources, at least 38 villagers, including a few women and children, of Badmal village under Sundargarh Sadar police limits crossed the river on a boat to reach Dainidih of Rajpur panchayat to watch some cultural events in the morning.

The boat overturned while ferrying back 16 men and 4 women from Dainidih to Badmal after completion of the cultural events.

All the passengers managed to swim to the safety, sources said.

According to villagers, a person, named as Gautam Penthei, has been permitted by the administration to ferry people across Ib river at Rajpur ghat. However, Penthei does not provide life jackets to the passengers, they alleged.

“Fortunately, all the passengers managed to swim to the safety. The administration should take today’s incident seriously and take immediate steps to either deploy a mechanized boat or build a bridge at the Rajpur ghat of Ib river,” said a villager.