'Dam would play the role of a catalyst in stabilising the national economy.'
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HARIPUR: Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Chief Minister Mahmood Khan on Thursday announced Rs500,000 as compensation for the families of those who drowned when a boat capsized in the Tarbela lake. He also announced Rs0.1 million for those who had survived.
An overcrowded boat with around 40 people on board had capsized in the Tarbela lake near Bargh on Wednesday. Rescue workers have so far pulled out four bodies from the water, including those of three children. Six survivors were also pulled out while the remaining are feared to have perished as well.
Visiting the Padhana village on the bank of the Tarbela Lake to review rescue operations, Mahmood was given a briefing by the Haripur Deputy Commissioner Arif Ullah. He said that around 40 residents of Torghar and Shangla were on board the boat along with some livestock when it capsized.
He added that 13 people had jumped into the water and survived. Two of the four bodies pulled from the water were identified as residents of Torghar, one from Shangla and one from Naraamazai. The bodies were handed over to their families for burial.
Later, while addressing the media, Mahmood said termed the incident as “very sad” and expressed his heartfelt grief and sorrow over the loss of precious lives.
Further said that rescue workers were trying hard to recover those still missing and that they were utilising all available resources to this effect.
To avoid an accident like this in the future, he said that they will conduct an inquiry to determine its cause.
He further said that his government will take steps to ensure such accidents are not seen elsewhere in the province as well and directed the district administration to register all passenger boats that operate in the lake and to also check the facilities provided to passengers on such boats, expressly binding to use life jackets.
Mahmood thanked the efforts of the army to rescue survivors and pull the bodies.
Dilating on the rescue efforts, he said that they tried to break open the hull of the boat in the hopes of recovering anyone trapped underneath. But the boat was stuck and mud had filled it. However, they were still trying to pull them.
K-P Information Minister Shaukat Yousafzai said that owing to the depth of the water and the flow of the river, it could take up to 15 days to pull all the bodies.
Meanwhile, survivors and families of those who are missing staged a protest at Barg on Thursday morning.
They said that the government has yet to even give them any water as part of relief after the tragedy, adding that they have been starving for two days now.
“We are already aggrieved, do not test our patience any further,” they said.
Rescue officials present at the site assured the protesters that they will be provided with food and other relief efforts.
Just before Mahmood arrived, food and water were distributed amongst the protesters on the orders of the district government, police officials confirmed.
Later, Yousafzai said that there should not have been a protest as the government was trying its best to retrieve the bodies and that they were also aggrieved by the tragedy and stand with the families of the victims.
K-P Communications and Works Minister Akbar Ayub Khan who also visited the site supervised the rescue operation for two hours.
He disclosed that CM Mahmood had constituted an investigation committee who will submit a report to the provincial government in this regard.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 5th, 2019.
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