Every second person in the districts of Dhemaji and Lakhimpur, on the north bank of the Brahmaputra in Assam, has a story about a tense midnight ferry ride and a life-and-death situation.
Jayanta Cheleng’s story involves his diabetic uncle. A couple of years ago, his uncle’s blood sugar suddenly plunged in the middle of the night. The district hospital in Lakhimpur said he needed to be taken to Dibrugarh – immediately.
Dibrugarh and Lakhimpur are just over 100 kilometres apart as the crow flies but seperated by the colossal Brahmaputra. The last ferry had departed a couple of hours before sundown. An emergency family meeting was convened. “My cousins made a few calls, and convinced a ferry-owner to take us,” he recalled. “We had to reserve the whole ferry for Rs 7,500. We could do it because my cousins had the means. Not everyone does.” A seat on a ferry for the 90-minute ride would have cost Rs 60.