Rajamahendravaram: Get ready for cruise trip to picturesque Papi Kondalu

Rajamahendravaram: After a long hiatus of 18 months, the State government accorded permission to run cruise service to Papi Kondalu in River Godvari from Thursday(April 15), much to the pleasure of tourists who can't wait to see the picturesque locations in the middle of water body. However, the permission was accorded for the boats which fulfilled necessary parameters to run the cruise service to Papi Kondalu.

It may be recalled that the cruise service to Papi Kondalu was stopped from September 15, 2019 in the wake of a mishap to a private tourist motor launch which capsized in River Godavari at Kacchuluru near Devipatnam. As many as 29 tourists had met the watery grave in the mishap.

The Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC) is making arrangements to launch cruise service to Papi Hills with its luxurious tourist boat Haritha from April 15. The APTDC fulfilled all the parameters for the luxury boat, Haritha, to acquire permission from the government.

Haritha, the luxury boat, starts cruising from Singannapalli ferry of Polavaram mandal in West Godavari district from Thursday. The APTDC fixed the ticket fare at Rs 1,000 for adults and Rs 750 for children.

In the past, 23 air-conditioned luxury boats and five motor launches used to run to Papi Hills from Rajamahendravaram and 32 motor launches and four air-conditioned luxury boats from Bhadrachalam in Telangana. The government did not accord permission to all the private tourist boats and launches as the owners failed to submit necessary certificates to prove their fitness.

As part of the precautionary measures, the tourism monitoring control rooms will monitor the movement of the tourist boats and give suggestions for its safety operation in the river. About 10,000 to 15,000 tourists used to visit the picturesque Papikondalu every day. After Papikondalu, the tourists throng Coconut Hartiha Resorts at Dindi village, where the air-conditioned house boats facility is available in River Vasista.

After the Kacchuluru boat capsize incident, the tourism boat services were stopped and many private ticket booking agents also closed their business affecting their livelihood.

According to an official of the APTDC, the government gave permission to its boats only for the cruise service and the tourists can book their ticket online on the APTDC website.

Necessary safety measures will be taken in all aspects.