Srinagar: Loud cries echoed near the banks of the Jhelum in Gandbal on the outskirts of Srinagar on Tuesday where a boat capsize cut short six lives, including three of a family, as the bodies were being fished out of the water one after the other.
The boat was ferrying mostly schoolchildren. It collided with a pillar of an under-construction bridge and split into two in the fast-flowing currents of the river already in spate following incessant rainfall in the Kashmir Valley over the last few days.
While the exact number of people on the boat was not clear yet, rescuers dragged 10 people out of the water safely while three are still missing.
The atmosphere slowly turned grim as anxious locals gathered at the embankment and watched the rescue operation but the lull did not last long. Loud wails pierced the air as rescuers began pulling out lifeless bodies from the water, which brought many others to tears.
The administration has pressed marine commandos into the rescue operation to trace those missing. The elite commandos were airlifted from their base in the Manasbal area of the Ganderbal district. Amid all the gloom and grief, a heroic effort by a migrant labourer found praise.
Dhoodhnath, who was at his rented accommodation near the banks of the river, saw the boat capsize mid-water and jumped into the river to save lives. "I saw the boat overturn. The current was strong but I rescued three people," he said later.
A survivor said there were about two dozen people on the boat, most of them children. "The ropes of the boat snapped and it hit one of the pillars of the under-construction bridge and broke into two. Many people drowned and three of us caught hold of the edges of the boat and somehow managed to save ourselves.
"A woman was also pulled out of the water and the four of us were rescued by another boat," he told reporters. The man said local people, including children, use the boat service every day to cross the river in the absence of a bridge.
The bridge being built on the river was sanctioned in 2017. Locals said had the bridge been completed by now, the loss of lives could have been avoided.
"Had there been a bridge, this accident could have been avoided. The mourning in so many houses today could have been avoided. We have raised this issue with the authorities several times, but they did not pay attention," a local said.
Former minister and Peoples Democratic Party leader Naeem Akhtar, who had laid the foundation stone for the bridge, said the loss was heartbreaking.
"These deaths are on somebody's hands. Remember the day when I laid the foundation stone of this footbridge and the happy faces around us celebrating the fulfilment of a long-pending demand. It was fully funded. But then the #vikas took over. Heartbreaking loss," Akhtar said in a post on 'X'.
Of the six dead were the wife and two sons of Fayaz Ahmad Malik, a resident of Gandbal. Funeral prayers for the deceased were offered together. Malik buried all three members of his family in a single grave as thousands looked on.
As the Malik family mourned, Showkat Ahmad Sheikh's kin held on to hope. Sheikh and his son Haziq have been missing since the incident. A public works department official said when work was started on the project, there was initially poor funding but the delay happened because while it was to be a footbridge, due to public pressure, the plan was changed to build a motorable bridge instead.
"When Article 370 was abrogated, there was a 'change of scope'. The rules which were not there earlier were implemented. Because of that, its technical sanction took time. We have been working very fast for the last three months," he said. The official said about 75 per cent of the work has been completed and the bridge would be completed by June this year.
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