The SECON Supplies, a Visakhaptnam-based firm that made the cruiser for Telangana State Development Corporation (TSTDC) choose Anupu to assemble the cruiser since the place is the best location to assemble a boat.
Before the division of Andhra Pradesh, SECON had made two cruiser boats for the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation — one in 2002 and another in 2014 — which it assembled at Anupu. The goods vehicles that came to Nagarjunasagar carrying the parts of a boat on Tuesday can reach to the very edge of water in the reservoir at Anupu, which is not possible from the Telangana side. Moreover, the depth of water at Anupu is about 10 feet, which is ideal to operate the boat after assembling it.
Since the SECON Supplies was owned by a Visakhapatnam-based contractor and he also had worked with APTDC in the past, the contractor felt that he would not attract any objection from AP officials. However, SECON and the Telangana officials were surprised by the strong opposition from AP, especially because there is nothing to lose for AP. Following the AP officials’ objection, SECON brought the containers that were carrying parts of the boat to Telangana side on Wednesday. Employing two earth movers, they cleared buses and rocks on the reservoir bed to take the containers close to water. The reduction in water level due to lack of rains would also make SECON’s job of assembling the boat a tough job. Though the contractor needs to put some extra efforts to assemble the boat at Telangana side, it would not be an impossible task for them.
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Meanwhile, the Divisional Tourism Officer, Nagarjunasagar, K. Venkateshwarlu, said the responsibility of handing over an assembled cruiser to TSTDC at the boating point rests with SECON since it was also included in the contract agreement. “We had nothing to do with Tuesday’ s issue since it happened between SECON and the AP officials,” he said. The SECON too, he said, just requested the AP officials for permission, nothing more happened. “TSTDC had its own boat point, there was no need to use anything from AP side,” Mr.Venkateshwarlu added.