Rautahat, September 5

District Administration Office, Rautahat, has started monitoring boats used in the Lalbakaiya and Bagmati rivers.

Five persons lost their lives when a boat capsized in the Lalbakaiya River at Tikuliyaghat on August 25.

A five-member monitoring team led by assistant chief district officer Dharmananda Joshi has been formed and the panel comprises representatives of Nepal Red Cross, Federation of Nepali Journalists, Nepal Police and the Office of Road Division, as per CDO Govinda Prasad Rijal.

CDO Rijal said the team was entrusted with the monitoring task at Tikuliya and Bairiyaghat of Lalbakaiya River, Bramhapuri, Basatpur, Badaharwa, Pipara, Dharampur, Laxmipur and Samanpurghat of Bagmati River from yesterday.

People, who have to cross the Lalbakaiya and Bagmati rivers, have no option but to use boats. “How is the condition of boats being used in the rivers, how many people are accommodated at a time, whether or not the boatmen are mature enough, etc will be monitored and a report will be prepared,” said CDO Rijal.

“People of two municipalities in Rautahat have no option but to use boats while crossing the Bagmati River.

Likewise, boating is the only option while going to Sarlahi. Hence, they have been facing a hard time while crossing the rivers,” said CDO Rijal, who vowed to minimise boat accidents by managing life jackets for boatmen/women and holding interaction with people’s representatives after the report is brought out.