RAJAMAHENDRAVARAM: K Gonduru village in Devipatnam mandal in East Godavari district is mourning the death of eight of its residents in the boat mishap that took place recently in Godavari river at Manturu. About 22 persons lost their lives when the boat carrying over 44 passengers capsized. Most of the victims were from this village. It will take a long time for the residents of K Gonduru to come to terms with the tragedy.
The reason for the village to suffer such a misfortune is its total dependence on boats and launches to reach Devipatnam, the mandal headquarters, for buying daily provisions, medical treatment, banking transactions and for a lot more other important needs. Their to and fro journey to the mandal headquarters takes six hours. Though these tragic deaths will haunt the people for a long time to come, they cannot escape from the harsh reality of taking a risky voyage everyday for their daily needs.
SHRC notice to State on boat tragedy
Vijayawada: The APSHRC on Friday took suo motu cognisance of the boat mishap in which about 22 persons died in the Godavari and directed the State government to submit a detailed report on the incident on or before June 4. The commission said that the detailed report should include the details of the procedure being followed for issuing licence to private boat operators and the guidelines being followed for checking fitness of boats for renewal of licence, the number of passengers and the luggage weight being permitted on board.
The commission further asked the government to detail in the report the transport facilities available to the villagers in the Agency areas, whether any proposal is pending to relieve the villagers from travelling by boats to attend to their day-to-day activities. The panel said that ‘every citizen living either in plains or Agency areas, has a right to live with dignity without being in want of minimum things such as transport, medical, etc.
Special regulatory authority for water transport
Vijayawada: Chief Secretary Dinesh Kumar has directed the officials to set up a special regulatory authority for transportation in waterways. During a meeting with officials at his chambers in the Interim Government Complex in Velagapudi on Friday, the Chief Secretary expressed concern over boat mishaps in the State and underscored the need for framing necessary guidelines for avoiding the recurrence of such incidents.
He directed the officials of Water Resources, Ports, Tourism, Police and Panchayat Raj departments to work in coordination and inspect boats from time-to-time. Stating that the government is mooting to set up inland water transport regulatory authority, Dinesh Kumar instructed that Water Resources Department should give licences to boats having a capacity of 10 metric tonnes and for boats having capacity of more than 10 tonnes, department of ports will have to give approval. Special Chief Secretary Manmohan Singh, Principal Secretaries Anuradha and Ajay Jain, Secretary Sasi Bhushan Kumar and other officials were present.