Two passengers, including an eight-year-old boy, remained missing after a six-passenger country boat capsized in the Tantighai river in Odisha’s Jajpur district on Thursday morning, prompting a joint search by fire services personnel and local fishermen.
The boat was carrying passengers from Mahammadjamapur village to Danarkul village when it overturned midstream. The missing passengers were identified as Anirudha Dalei, 8, and Mania Dalei, 22. Four others were rescued by local residents and people travelling in another boat.
Jajpur Sadar tehsildar Rabinarayan Padhi said two of the rescued passengers, Hemalata Dalei, 75, and Uma Dalei, 55, were admitted to the district headquarters hospital in Jajpur for treatment. The condition of the other two rescued passengers was not specified in the report.
The search operation was launched after the boat sank in the river. An official said the strong current had reduced the chances of survival. Local resident Jiban Dalei, who witnessed the incident, said the boat overturned close to the riverbank, helping villagers reach and rescue some of the passengers. He also pointed to the additional danger posed by crocodiles in the river.
The incident has exposed the dependence of riverside communities on small boats for daily travel. Residents of villages separated by waterways often use country boats to reach nearby settlements, services and markets, making the availability and safety of these crossings an important part of local mobility.
The authorities said passenger boats are required to follow safety conditions. Jajpur collector Ambar Kumar Kar said wearing life jackets was mandatory and that private boat owners were required to obtain fitness certificates from the inland water transport department.
Kar said boat operators had been directed to provide life jackets to passengers, while travellers had been advised not to board boats without them. He also said strict action would be taken against operators who violated safety norms.
The capsizing has raised immediate questions about whether safety equipment and vessel fitness requirements are being followed on routine river crossings. The ongoing search for the two missing passengers remained the next official priority, while the district administration’s stated response focused on rescue operations and enforcement of passenger-boat safety rules.
