A total of 73 persons — 41 from Telangana and 32 from Andhra Pradesh — were aboard the Royal Vasista , the tourist boat when it capsized on Sunday afternoon in the Godavari river at Katchluru village in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh.
Additional Director General (Law and Order) Ravi Shankar Ayyanar said 27 tourists survived the accident, eight bodies were traced and 38 persons were still missing. “Many women and children are among the missing,” he told The Hindu on Monday.
According to a PTI report, four more bodies were recovered during the day, taking the death toll to 12.
East Godavari Superintendent of Police Adnan Nayeem Asmi said three choppers of the ONGC, Navy and Reliance, and NDRF and SDRF personnel were searching for those missing.
Boat not found
“The boat [which was on its way to the Papikondalu tourist spot] has not been located yet. We suspect that some bodies are trapped inside or underneath the boat and are trying to extricate it,” the Additional D-G said.
Godavari Head Works executive engineer R. Mohan Rao said the discharge from Dowleswaram Barrage was 5 lakh cusecs on Sunday (when the tragedy occurred) and on Monday, 4.62 lakh cusecs was discharged.
“Flood level in the Godavari is still at danger level and no boats have been permitted in the river for the last one month,” said Mr. Rao, who is also the Flood Conservator. “As per the instructions from the higher authorities, we are slowly discharging water from the barrage from all the 175 gates,” Mr. Rao said. “We have arranged floodlights at the river at Dowleswaram and about 200 employees are involved in the search.”
Intensive search
Over 100 fishermen and motor boats were scouring the Godavari river, Eastern Canal, Bobbarlanka and Vijjeswaram Canals, he said. NDRF 10th Battalion Commandant Zahid Khan said search operations were continuing in the Agency area.
At a review meeting, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy pulled up officials for poor monitoring of boat operations and for not ensuring safety of vessels in the State. He directed officials to check all boats regularly. He wondered how a private boat was allowed to ply when the Tourism Department boats were stopped owing to the rise in water level.
Speaking to journalists, the Ministers who attended the meeting said a high-level committee would probe the tragedy and make recommendations to prevent recurrence of such incidents. The committee would submit its report in 45 days.
One of the survivors, Busala Lakshmi, who lost 13 family members in the tragedy, said: “When the boat was getting submerged, an unknown person gave me a life jacket. I didn’t know that journey in the water was so dangerous.” Another survivor, Janaki Ramaiah, said many tourists were not wearing the jackets.
