Chakdaha, Nov. 13: Two cousins in their early twenties drowned while taking holy dips in the river Hooghly after performing a ritual in connection with demise of their grandfather in Nadia’s Chakdah on Saturday morning.
Divers engaged by the district administration traced out body of one of the girls, identified as Riya Guha, a second year student, whereas body of Arpita could not be traced out till the evening.
Family sources said that Riya Guha and Arpita Guha, both aged 21, and residents of Lalpur-Vivekananda Pally in Chakdah took a scooty ride to reach the bank of the river Hooghly in Mukundanagar area. At around 9.30 am, the two cousins after a post-death ritual of their grandfather Amar Chandra Guha, on the bank get into the river for holy dips, when Riya slipped into a dead hole.
Eye witnesses claimed that watching her drowning, Arpita who was preparing for the dip in the water close to the bank tried to save her, but slipped into the hole in a similar way.
Some local people taking bath in nearby areas rushed in watching the two girls drowning, but failed to rescue them.
“There was heavy downward current in the water. The two girls vanished into the river within few seconds. We could not trace them at all”, a local resident said.
Tapan Guha, uncle of the girls’ said, “We all came for the holy bath after performing the ritual before Sunday’s scheduled Shraddh ceremony. The girls got into the river, but accidentally slipped into the river. They failed to assess the depth of water in the area and went into the dead hole”.
Local sources said that the stretch of the river Hooghly where the two girls drowned is comparatively deep due to
adjacent water lifting station of the PHE. “The area is quite deep and often cleaned for sake of water lifting. Local villagers always caution outsiders whenever they get into the river for bath. But people care little and invite problem”.
Local residents have demanded deployment of civic volunteers in the ghat area so that such accidents could be avoided. “During the past few years nearly a dozen persons have drowned in the stretch. So to avoid recurrence of such death, a deployment of guard is urgently required”, Shyamal Mandal, a local resident said.