The metal boat stuck in a crest gate of the Prakasam Barrage was removed on Sunday afternoon following several hours of efforts by various salvage teams. The 68th gate in which the boat was stuck has finally been shut after a gap of about 10 days. While the boat is over 60 ft wide, the gate is about 40 ft wide.
Expert teams from various reservoirs in the State and one in Karnataka engaged by Water Resources Department (WRD) with the support of personnel of State Disaster Response Force and National Disaster Response Force tried to remove the boat since Saturday morning.
A team from Kakinada along with disaster response forces became successful in removing the heavy iron boat used to carry sand. It was first lifted and freed from the clutches of the crest gate’s side bar and frame using ropes and was pushed downstream by the floodwater. District Collector A. Md. Imtiaz oversaw the operation in person until the boat was successfully removed and appreciated the efforts of the men.
‘No damage’
Mr. Imtiaz, according to a release, said that the boat was removed without causing any damage to the gate.
The WRD officials supervised the entire operation. About 10 days ago when the Krishna was in spate, two boats hit the Prakasam Barrage and one of them passed downstream through a gate while the other got stuck. WRD Minister P. Anil Kumar Yadav also visited the Barrage late on Saturday and inspected the operation.
As it was stuck in a critical position, officials were unable to remove it for days and waited for expert teams to turn up.
