J K News Today

New Delhi, January 14:  At least 17 persons were feared drowned and 20 others went missing on Saturday evening after an overloaded boat carrying around 40 people capsized in the river Ganga near the NIT (National Institute of Technology) Ghat in the heart of  Patna ,  capital of Bihar .

The number of deceased persons is likely to increase. Separate teams of NDRF and SDRF have reached the site of boat mishap and have begun rescue operations.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has ordered a high-level probe into the mishap. He ordered the principal secretary of the disaster management, Pratyay Amrit, Patna DIG Shalin and Patna DM Sanjay Kumar Agrawal to rush to the place of the mishap and personally monitor the ongoing rescue operations.

CM also ordered payment of ex gratia to the next kin of deceased persons at the earliest. As per the state government’s guidelines, an amount of Rs 4 lakh is paid as ex gratia to the kin of persons killed in any kind of disaster within the state.