Banda boat tragedy: CM Yogi Adityanath announces ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh to kin of deceased, search on for missing people

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh): Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday announced an ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakhs each to kin of those who died in Banda boat capsize incident. The Chief Minister also instructed officials concerned to provide immediate help and relief to the victims. Two ministers of the Yogi cabinet, Ramkesh Nishad and Rakesh Sachan, have been instructed to reach the spot immediately.

CM Yogi Adityanath earlier condoled the loss of lives and directed the District Magistrate (DM) and Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) in charge of the district to conduct a search and rescue operation immediately.

Meanwhile, search operation resumed on Friday morning for 17 people who are still missing after their boat capsized in the Yamuna River in Uttar Pradesh`s Banda district on Thursday. The boat carrying 30 to 40 people was going from Fatehpur to Marka village. Three bodies have been recovered so far. According to reports, teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) stopped the operation on Thursday night.

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District Magistrate Anurag Patel told ANI that the administration is trying its best to rescue as many people as possible, adding "NDRF, SDRF, a team of local divers are searching for 17 missing people. We are trying our best to rescue as many people as possible from those who have gone missing. The rescue operation has been stopped now, it will resume in the morning."

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Teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) reached the location promptly.

A resident of the area told ANI, "In the boat, around 40 people were on-board, as many as 15 people have returned. The boat capsized after one of its flanks broke, there were 8 women and 4 children on board."

"Due to rain, it has been slippery which is causing issues in rescue, bur still teams are working hard to trace the missing people," ANI quoted Deputy Inspector General of Police, VK as saying.  As of now, around 20 people have been rescued and 17 are still missing. 

(With ANI Inputs)