E-Paper
Odisha TV journo chasing elephant story drowns as boat capsizes, 2 others critical
Hours before the tragedy, around 80 officials of Odisha forest department including two divisional forest officers had started a rescue operation of a sub-adult tusker, part of a 17-member herd from Sukasen forest of Athagarh to Chandaka elephant sanctuary, that was trapped in the floodwaters of Mahanadi.
An operation to rescue a tusker trapped in the swirling waters of a flooded Mahanadi river near Cuttack ended in tragedy on Friday when a journalist of a local TV channel who was in a rescue boat of the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force drowned while his cameraman colleague is fighting for his life.
Arindam Das and Prabhat Sinha, chief reporter and cameraman of popular TV channel OTV respectively, were rescued in a serious condition with 4 personnel of ODRAF after the inflatable dinghy they were in capsized in the strong current of water near the pillars of the barrage. Five ODRAF personnel along with the OTV journalists in the inflatable dinghy were attempting to go near a tusker that was trapped in the swirling waters of Mahanadi River when the boat capsized throwing all of them into the furious river.
Das, who was rushed to SCB Medical College and Hospital soon after his rescue was declared brought dead, said Dr Bhubanananda Maharana, emergency officer of the hospital. “Prabhat Sinha, the cameraman and ODRAF personnel are in very serious condition. We are trying our best to save them,” said Dr Maharana. One ODRAF staff is still missing.
Soon after the news of Das’s death poured in, a shocked Jagi Mangat Panda, managing director of OTV tweeted that it was a terrible loss. “He was a brave and ethical journalist who fearlessly chose to go after breaking news. This is a terrible loss despite taking safety precautions & ODRAF’s best efforts. Om Shanti,” she tweeted.
Colleague and editor of OTV, Radha Madhav Mishra broke down while talking about the death of Das. “As reporters we often make on-the-spot risk assessment of doing particular news. Arindam has done several such reporting assignments including covering cyclones in the past in difficult circumstances. I am too shocked and sad to say anything more,” he said. Das left behind a 3-year-old son and wife.
Hours before the tragedy, around 80 officials of Odisha forest department including two divisional forest officers had started a rescue operation of a sub-adult tusker, part of a 17-member herd from Sukasen forest of Athagarh to Chandaka elephant sanctuary, that was trapped in the floodwaters of Mahanadi. While 8 elephants managed to cross the river and reach Chandaka, 8 others moved towards Dhabaleswar leaving one elephant trapped in the middle of the river. “Though elephants are good swimmers, the level of water was a little too high for the elephant and it was stuck,” said Sangram Behera, assistant conservator of forest of Chandaka forest division.
The rescue operation did not make much headway as the elephant was slowly wading its way through the waters to the banks returned back, probably scared by a large number of people who were watching it over the barrage. A team of 5 ODRAF personnel from its 6th Battalion then decided to go near the elephant to check its condition when the two reporters of OTV hopped into the boat.
Bhubaneswar-Cuttack police commissioner Soumendra Priyadarshi said though the inflatable dinghies are easy to manoeuvre and not difficult to balance in floodwaters, the current seemed to be too strong. “Though the journalists and others in the boat were wearing lifejackets the force of the water was too strong for them. The journalists carrying video cameras and other reporting materials may have found it difficult to balance themselves in such a situation,” said Priyadarshi.
Meanwhile, the elephant that was trapped in the floodwaters is yet to be rescued. It has, however, found itself a vantage position in the river where the water level is little less.
Wildlife expert and member of Odisha State Biodiversity Board, Jayanta Mardaraj said though elephants are good swimmers and regularly cross rivers without any problem, the water current may have been the stumbling block. “After floodwaters were released from the Hirakud Reservoir over last week, Mahanadi has been in spate. The elephant may have become weak after standing in the water for over 9 hours. It needs food so as to regain its strength,” said Mardaraj.
Several prominent people including Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan condoled Das’s death. “I’m deeply saddened at the passing of OTV journalist and my friend Arindam Das. He had created his own identity with his daring news reportage in challenging circumstances. His demise has created a void in the Odia media fraternity,” tweeted Dharmendra Pradhan.
BJP vice-president Baijayant Panda described Das as a hero. “He was and is a hero. Deeply anguished by boat tragedy which, despite safety precautions, took life of OTV’s intrepid chief reporter Arindam Das while covering an ODRAF elephant rescue. Deepest condolences to his family & prayers for injured & missing,” tweeted Panda.
