Sir,

The tragic event which happened in Patna on the eve of Makar Sankranti in which an overloaded boat capsized claiming the life of 24 fellow Patnaites, deeply saddens me and makes me ponder.

As the spot of the accident is close to me and at one of my favourite destinations of the city, it makes me even more sombre and curious. Many questions are firing in my head with hardly any of them answered.

In fact, on the tragic day  my friends and I were planning to visit the ghat but somehow changed the plan.  What if we had visited the place that day? Is the question that is troubling me the most.  Does this incident mean that in the future I can’t be assured enough to visit my favourite place, the place where I sighed a moment of relief from my monotonous life?

The death of one of my college mate’s cousins even intensifies my emotions.

Following the news articles in the newspapers the next day, I saw the blame- game being played over the mishap. The river police being non- functional and the Saran and Patna police holding each other responsible for the incident. The Bihar State Tourism Development Corporation(BSTDC) putting a finger on their lips.

The kite- flying event was touted as a ‘mega event’ by the tourism department and invited people by printing ads in the newspapers. How could there be such carelessness in the so called ‘mega event’? Who knew that the free boat ride offered by the department isn’t actually free but one has to pay the price of their life?

There seems to be have been no lessons learned from the past two incidents happened in the city. First incident which took place on November 19, 2012 where 22 people were killed on the banks of Ganga at Adalat Ghat in a stampede. The second incident which happened at Gandhi Maidan on October 3, 2014 where 32 people were killed and 29 injured in an stampede.

Why does the administration even think of planning such events when it knows very well that it is beyond their reach? That it is incapable and inefficient.  That the people should think ten times before setting out for such an event. They should not to be lured by what is said to be ‘free’ because it isn’t and demands the price of their lives.

The only people who seem to be benefitted by this mishap is the opposition who have got one more point to prove the government wrong. And who are running to homes and doors of the deceased to shed crocodile tears and  get a pinch of publicity.

This was an act of sheer carelessness and irresponsibility. The government must take a serious lesson from the incident and should abstain from such deadly pursuits unless and until it learns to properly organize such events and make necessary security arrangements.

Yours Truly,

Gaurav Anand

BMC Sem 6, ST Xavier’s College of Mgmt&Tech; Digha

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