As a boat capsized in the middle of Jhelum, swollen by incessant rains for many days, drowning six, the tragedy exposed many narratives in Kashmir, reports Umaima Reshi and Mujtaba Hussain
It was a tragedy that happened as people watched. A boat ferrying a crowd including school children, some of their parents and a few labourers capsized, killing six of them on April 16, 2024. The crisis unfolded barely a few meters away from the Smart City’s Batwara banks. The boat was on its way from Gandbal, a village living on the other side.
The boat, locally known as Khoutch, was reportedly overloaded and broke free from its moorings, drifting with the water current until it hit something, splitting the watercraft. Residents said there were around 19 people in the boat carrying them across. Quickly the local boatmen got into rescue, a process that marine commandos, MARCOS, and teams from SDRF, and NDRF, and the army joined later. Since a few of the people are still missing, the operation is still in progress. So far ten have been rescued and three are still missing.
The village is mourning and it will take a long time for the families to live with the loss. One household lost three members, two sons and their mother. The unfound individuals include a father-son duo and a seven-year-old child named Farhan.
Mushtaq Ahmed, who survived the tragedy recalled how and a few others held onto a torn rope and survived. Dismissing the overload angle, Mushtaq said the boat routinely carried up to 40 passengers.
“There were labourers, schoolchildren, and their parents on the boat. Unfortunately, all of them perished,” Mushtaq said, tears welling in his eyes. “This is the first time such a disaster has occurred. If there had been a bridge, this would not have happened.”
Another survivor, however, did admit an overload. “Our boat was overloaded, and as we approached the other side, it unexpectedly overturned,” the survivor said. “My brother is still missing. The idea of losing my family is unbearable.”
The missing are still being searched in the river, which witnessed a marginal fall in the discharge in the last few days. SSP Srinagar, Ashish Mishra, pointed out the difficulties due to water turbidity and strong currents but asserted the skilled personnel will not fail. “We are putting forth our best effort to rescue the individuals who are unaccounted for,” DC Srinagar, Dr Bilal Mohiuddin told reporters.
They are not alone. There are experts from civil society too. Abdul Samad Dar is an arduous diver and Public Safety Underwater Body Recovery Specialist, from Pulwama’s Kakapora, He has been on the rescue mission of three missing from the very first day.
“I have almost done 40-45 rescue operations in Jhelum, and had recovered the bodies within 24 hours in most of the incidents,” Dar said. “This operation is taking more time. I am about to give up because I along with my team had used every possible technique to recover bodies but could not succeed.”
The government has announced an ex-gratia of five lakh for the deceased and Rs 50,000 for the injured. It would not compensate for the loss of those who lost their loved ones.
The Bridge
For hundreds of settlements living on either side of the Jhelum River, using the boat is normal, within and outside the city. Off late, in Srinagar, the government started connecting the two banks for localities so that it did not cost them to crossover. The Batwara tragedy happened during one such operation. While the operation was routine, the situation was slightly different. It was raining massively for many days as a result of which the river was swollen and the currents had picked the speed as well.
The boat was following a rope – as is normal for centuries, to reach the other side. In the middle of the river, it broke and the boat got free. Within minutes, it hit an obstacle and broke into two pieces. The rest is history.
This tragedy is the second major incident of its kind after the Wular Lake (Bandipora) boat capsized in which 35 school children were killed in 2006.
After the tragedy, the entire narrative started focused on one thing – the incomplete foot bridge that started almost a decade ago. People said had the bridge been completed, the tragedy might not have happened at all.
Now the entire narrative is about how many bridges are supposed to connect the two banks of the river for pedestrians and the vehicles are languishing. Kashmir, interestingly, has only Jhelum as its major river that drains the entire Valley from Verinag to Uri, till it crosses the Line of Control (LoC).
Official figures suggest there are almost 15 bridges and seven footbridges that are yet to be completed. Although the work on them commenced a decade ago, construction work was halted due to the dearth of funds. Some officials, however, said land acquisition and issues with the contractors are the added or the exclusive reasons for the incompletion of some of these bridging projects.
The Official Speak
Sajad Naqeeb, Chief Engineer of Roads and Buildings (R&B) Central Kashmir said that work on at least 17 bridges including the one supposed to connect Batwara and Gandbal was started without any financial approval. After 2019, the government’s General Financial Rules (GFR) rules (SRO 15) made it clear that the AOTS (Administrative Approval and Technical Sanction) is a must for implementing the projects. Before 2019, the contractors had been authorised to start the work on these bridges without technical sanction.
After 2019, the administration insisted for the financial discipline that a contractor must possess an ATOS before starting work. Interestingly, the technical sanction of the Gandabal-Batwara bridge was issued only in 2023. “After the technical sanction was issued, we have not stopped the work on the bridge even for a day and the work has been going on,” he said. “We have installed the upper deck slab on both sides of the bridge. The girdles of the central span are done and by the end of June the bridge will be completed and ready for use.”
A Locality in Pain
Almost every household is in mourning. Fayaz Ahmed Malik, a father is left isolated and in despair, after he lost his two minor sons, Tanveer and Mudasir Fayaz and his wife Firdousa, to the tragedy. He is inconsolable.
“They left me all alone,” Malik cried. “I used to take them to school every day but this time Firdousa took them. I told them not to go as it was heavily raining and the water level was quite high. I got involved in something and within that period they left without saying goodbye, accompanied by their mother. I didn’t even hug or convey endearment to the kids for the one last time, as I always did.”
Malik said he will never be able to live in peace. “I was so proud of them. I loved my wife for how diligent and punctual of routines she was. My sons were practising Muslims and were perfect and obedient kids. It was because of them I was regular with my prayers and fasts,” Malik lamented. “The elder one recently went for etikaaf as well. Both of them including my wife are in paradise by the grace of God. I don’t blame anyone; it was my fate as well as theirs.”
Miraculous Survival
Insha, an eighth-grade student, described the agonising boat capsize incident as she lay in a hospital bed at SMHS Hospital, Srinagar. Recalling the horrifying morning of April 16, when her mother urged her and her sister to go to school after a protracted Eid break, she said it sounded normal.
They got on the boat, catching sight of the noisy river Jehlum. As they reached almost the middle of the river, all of a sudden, the rope tore apart, and the boat clashed with an upcoming bridge support. Insha lost sight of her family in the tumult. Miraculously, she, her mother, and sister survived.
Her mother, Irshada, still traumatised, recapitulates the faces of the students who were washed away in the incident. She conveys gratitude for their survival but grapples to vanquish the fear. Insha, her younger sister, Ayesha and her mother Irshada also emphasized the vitality of infrastructure progress and amelioration to maintain safety and avoid future misfortunes.
A Father’s Dive
The boat carried Showkat Ahmad and his son Hazik. As the tragedy struck, Showkat somehow survived. As he found his son struggling to not get drowned, he jumped back into the Jhelum River to save his son.
Eyewitnesses recount how Showkat, a mason, struggled with the river’s might but unfortunately could not make it, along with his son and another missing person, Farhan Parray, when the boat capsized. Showkat, reflected by residents as a dedicated man and the only brother among six sisters, leaves behind the family in despair. Eyewitnesses recall Showkat’s altruistic act, swimming back to save his son before both succumbed to the river’s vigour.
His wife, currently traumatised by the event is still and silent and seeks for her son and husband through her pining and longing eyes. Showkat’s two minor daughters’, innocent and unacquainted with the situation roam around the house clueless.
Another individual namely Farhan Parray, a seven-year-old, first-grade student, still missing was also boarded for school accompanied by his mother, as the tragedy thumped. They disconnected and drifted apart from each other, leading just the mother to survive.
Tormented by the cognition of flashback, his mother, Masrat’s agony poured out as she conversed with the reporters. “I deeply regret releasing my hold,” she lamented, mentioning her child. In perturbation and restlessness, Masrat still yearns for her son to come back.
Witness Accounts
There were many on the banks who watched the horror in the river. “I would not be able to board any boat now due to the phobia of the incident,” one witness said. “If the bridge will be mended and properly established, then only I might be able to cross over.”
The tragic event leaves Gandabal in melancholy, with residents mourning the loss of its innocuous residents and expressing profound grief that even the most priceless bridges cannot mend their sorrow.
“Those who saw the foundation ceremony of this haunted bridge are dead now, some lying in the graves and some still missing within the turbid water of Jhelum,” said Ghulam Qadir Sheikh, a relative of one of the deceased, who lives near the incomplete bridge. “They just saw the dream of crossing this unfinished bridge and did not get a chance to cross it.”
The Politics
“These deaths are on somebody’s hands,” PDP leader, Naeem Akhter, who was R&B Minister in Jammu, said tweeted. “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.”
The tinge of politics has almost galvanised every wholesome and tragic life incident. Likewise the same has been happening to this incident. Every political party is trying to wash their dirty linen and is accusing each other of incompetence. Busy campaigning for the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, the political parties are playing a blame game, shifting the liability of death on each other. But no one has ever heard of us, other residents claimed.
President Badamibagh Cantonment Board, Abdul Rashid who lives in Panthachowk said the people stand cornered by the political powers on all sides. On one side we have the powerful political families of Mir Lasjan and Mir Mustafa. On the other end of the river, we have a lobby of politicians consisting of all political parties. “We believe we were exploited by all,” he said.
Languishing Projects
Farooq Ahmad from Pandrethan, the locality that faces Gandabal on the other side of the bank lost his son-in-law Showkat Ahmad and grandson Haziq in the capsizing incident. “Showkat despite knowing how to swim lost his life for trying to save the life of his son and other minors,” Farooq said. “We do not blame the concerned contractor, because if it had been the property of his, he would not have let the property to waste there. It is the ineffectiveness of previous governments that caused this tragedy.”
The residents have been using the ill-fated boat for a long time. They had repaired the boat many times by raising donations.
“Our politicians failed us this day as they always have been. They visited even the places of the people who have gone through minor fire incidents but did not even bother to come here, only to hide their inefficiency. Even a golden bridge, embroidered with diamonds cannot compensate the loss of the families.”
Intrusive Social Media
However, the battery of social media content creators who visited the spot in the garb of media added to the crisis. “They came, took images and sold the pain,” one resident said. “Some of them were working in a way as if they were in theatre.”
Off late, there is a huge backlash on social media against the abuse of the incident for the viewership. In certain corners of the web, a campaign is going on. However, the only crisis is that people are not aware of how to make a difference between the media and the social media content creators, who operate under the garb of the media.
Questions, Not Answers
The tragedy popped many questions that would not have surfaced had the death of six people not occurred. No one is answering the questions. The residents out-cried that they live only about 5-6 Km from Lal-Chowk, the city centre, and don’t have a footbridge in the twenty-first century. The government has just varnished the face and kept the skeletal problems of the city unaddressed. While the city centre is being decorated the peripheries of the city are being ignored.
Not many people know that after the fall of the BJPDP coalition in 2018 summer, the then-governor came up with a huge statement saying that around 6000 projects are languishing throughout Jammu and Kashmir. These projects, the administration said have been announced on political considerations and have not been completed.
The government floated the Jammu Kashmir Infrastructure Development Fund Corporation (JKIDFC) and it was mandated to borrow from the market and complete these projects. The idea was to lend at a cost and finish the projects. So far more than Rs 2000 crore loan was raised to finish almost 1200 projects but some key facilities have been ignored. There are three more footbridges in the immediate neighbourhood of Batwara which are still not taken up.
Will the Batwara tragedy wake up the Vikas regime?
Post Script
Works resumed on the footbridge, the foundation of which was laid in 2017. It was supposed to cost Rs 3.67 crore. On April 23, 2024, Lt Governor Manoj Sinha visited the village, met the residents and heard the first-hand account of the survivors. He assured all help. Residents told him that the two river banks were barely just 500 meters apart, but the nearest bridge was 2 km away, forcing them to use the boats.
