Assam Government has demanded the Centre to release a special grant of 365 crore rupees for improvement of shipping facilities in the river Brahmaputra. The Brahmaputra River, declared as the second National Waterways of the Country, has 891 Kilometre navigable length of waterways from Sadiya to Dhubri in Assam.

The demand was placed before the Union Shipping Minister G. K. Vasan, who visited last Monday’s ferry boat tragedy site at Medertari in Dhubri district yesterday. Mr Vasan reviewed the entire shipping system in the river Brahmaputra with the Assam Minister for Transport Chandan Brahma and other top officials.

Meanwhile, with one more body recovered, the toll in the worst-ever boat tragedy has gone up to 63. Around 200 passengers of the ferry are still reported to be missing. Search for more bodies is on by the divers of the National Disaster Response Force, Army, BSF and Police.

The Bangladesh Rifles and Kurigram district authorities of adjacent Bangladesh are also carrying out search operation in the downstream of the river Brahmaputra in their part to recover the floating bodies.

The step has been taken after a flag meeting between the BSF and BDR in presence of the Deputy Commissioners of both Dhubri and Kurigram districts on Indo-Bangladesh border on Thursday last.