BHUBANESWAR: While the police have started investigation to find out the circumstances that led to the death of Manali TV reporter, Arindam Daso, a daring rescue attempt Elephants trapped inside Mahanadi by river Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) Experts on Friday questioned ODRAF’s move to allow Jumbo to board a rubber boat on a dangerous mission to rescue.
“Police will ascertain the circumstances leading to the tragedy. We will ensure that the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) is strictly followed to avoid recurrence of such accidents in future,” said Special Relief Commissioner Pradeep Kumar Jena.
As per the SOP, no one is expected to board such boats on the rescue operation except those involved in the operation.
Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) RK Sharma, who heads ODRAF operations, has started an investigation into the tragedy. Sharma, who visited the crash site and interacted with ODRAF personnel, said, “It is too early to comment on what went wrong.”
Many questioned the ‘nonsense up operation’ by ODRAF, the backbone of disaster management in Odisha, which is internationally known for mastering disaster management strategies.
Former state Director General of Police (DGP) Sanjeev Marik said that ODRAF should not allow journalists even if they are overzealous to accompany them during dangerous missions.
“While the personnel are trained, others are not. It looks like an avoidable and unfortunate death,” said Marik. Another former DGP Prakash Mishra questioned the reason for ODRAF going to Jumbo.
“I don’t understand why they went to the wild animal, which can behave unexpectedly in such a situation. It seems that they did not properly assess the threat perception. It was a misadventure which should be introspected,” said Mishra.
Seven people on board the boat, five rescuers and two journalists overturned near a pillar of the Mundali barrage, where the base is also a concrete structure, injuring them when a strong current washed away, a police official said. While another journalist (Pravat Sinha) and two ODRAF jawans are undergoing treatment, one jawan is missing.
Arindam (39) is known for covering disasters. He was among the first few journalists to cover the release of Italian tourist, Claudio Colangelo, kidnapped by Maoist-led Sabyasachi Panda from a forest in 2012. Orissa Governor Ganeshi Lal, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and people from different walks of life condoled Arindam’s death.
“Police will ascertain the circumstances leading to the tragedy. We will ensure that the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) is strictly followed to avoid recurrence of such accidents in future,” said Special Relief Commissioner Pradeep Kumar Jena.
As per the SOP, no one is expected to board such boats on the rescue operation except those involved in the operation.
Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) RK Sharma, who heads ODRAF operations, has started an investigation into the tragedy. Sharma, who visited the crash site and interacted with ODRAF personnel, said, “It is too early to comment on what went wrong.”
Many questioned the ‘nonsense up operation’ by ODRAF, the backbone of disaster management in Odisha, which is internationally known for mastering disaster management strategies.
Former state Director General of Police (DGP) Sanjeev Marik said that ODRAF should not allow journalists even if they are overzealous to accompany them during dangerous missions.
“While the personnel are trained, others are not. It looks like an avoidable and unfortunate death,” said Marik. Another former DGP Prakash Mishra questioned the reason for ODRAF going to Jumbo.
“I don’t understand why they went to the wild animal, which can behave unexpectedly in such a situation. It seems that they did not properly assess the threat perception. It was a misadventure which should be introspected,” said Mishra.
Seven people on board the boat, five rescuers and two journalists overturned near a pillar of the Mundali barrage, where the base is also a concrete structure, injuring them when a strong current washed away, a police official said. While another journalist (Pravat Sinha) and two ODRAF jawans are undergoing treatment, one jawan is missing.
Arindam (39) is known for covering disasters. He was among the first few journalists to cover the release of Italian tourist, Claudio Colangelo, kidnapped by Maoist-led Sabyasachi Panda from a forest in 2012. Orissa Governor Ganeshi Lal, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and people from different walks of life condoled Arindam’s death.
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