Pharmacist Dies As Boat Carrying Health Workers Capsizes In Chhattisgarh

A 27-year-old pharmacist drowned after a boat carrying a team of health department workers capsized in a river in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district, officials said on Tuesday.

The incident took place late Monday evening when the workers were returning after holding a medical camp in the remote Kosalnar village of the district located on the other side of the Indravati river, Bijapur's district programme manager (health department) Sandip Tamrakar said.

Health department teams often have to use boats to cross rivers and rivulets in the interior areas of Bastar division, comprising seven districts including Dantewada and Bijapur, to provide healthcare facilities in remote villages.

Tamrakar, who was also part of the team that visited Kosalnar, said after the camp concluded, he and a doctor crossed the river on a boat and returned.

Later, another doctor, two women health workers and a pharmacist were crossing the river in another boat when it capsized midway, he said.

The person who was rowing the boat shouted and asked its occupants to hold on to the vessel, the official said.

While three healthcare workers managed to hold on to the boat and reached to safety, pharmacist Pradip Kaushik got swept away in the strong river current, he said.

As the area lies on the border of Dantewada and Bijapur districts, the nearby Barsoor police station (in Dantewada) was immediately contacted.

Police later reached the spot and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel started the rescue work, the official said.

The pharmacist's body was fished out from the river at around 8 am on Tuesday and shifted to Dantewada for post-mortem, he added. 

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