Papikondalu boat capsize spot located in Rajamahendravaram

Rajamahendravaram: Nearly after a month of the capsize Vashista Royal Punnami in River Godavari, some hope has been generated about retrieving the boat. Balaji Marine Company of Kakinada under the aegis of Dharmadi Satyam took up the operation to trace and pull out the capsized private tourist boat at Kacchulurumanda village of Devipatnam mandal from Thursday.

Satyam with his team consisting of 50 members plunged into action for the second time to bring the boat out from the riverbed. Their efforts paid some dividends. The team identified that the boat was in a depth of 140 feet and they arranged a net around the drowned boat.

Later, they sent anchors on the four sides of the tourist boat. The anchor which they had been using to trace the location of the boat could pull out the railing of the capsized boat.

The team observed white paint on the anchors which belongs to the tourist boat and confirmed the location of the boat. The team is using one punt, 1,000 metres of iron rope, one motor launch, a proclaimer and big size of anchors.

The team also consulted the marine experts in Visakhapatnam in this regard. The Marine experts will reach Kacchulurumanda on Friday to assist them. It may be recalled that the boat started at Devipatnam with 77 tourists for Papikondalu and after two hours it capsized in the

river on September 15th. As many as 26 tourists were saved and 38 tourists died and the bodies of 13 tourists yet to be traced.

Earlier, State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Navy team and a team from Uttarkhand tried to locate the boat but expessed their helplessness and said that the boat was at 300 feet and the atmosphere was not conducive at that time.

Later, on the recommendations of an expert committee the task was entrusted to Balaji Maraine Company and the government provided the required infrastructure as asked by them company.