The Royal Vasastha Punnami Boat which was traveling with tourists at Kachchaloor thickness of East Godavari district 19 days ago ended in Godavari. The ferry carrying about 77 passengers was involved in the accident. At the time of the accident, 26 passengers survived with the help of local fishermen. The rest of them were lost. Rescuers carried out airlift operations and identified several bodies. The whereabouts of 15 others remain unknown.
Officials decided to retrieve the boat, assuming the bodies of the remaining passengers were under the sinking boat. Balaji Marines of Kakinada have been entrusted with the task of tracing the boats. An expert from the company, Dharmadi Satyam, tried for three days to pull the boat out. On the first day, the iron rope was attempted to be rolled over in a sunken area. It was thought to be a boat with a heavy object burning. The rope fell off the next day and was diagnosed as a rock.
On the third day the ropes were tied to the anchors and the boat sank. After trying to anchor the rope, he attempted to pull Rope to the shoreline. But even that effort failed. The langur was left empty. Extracts have been carried out in the traditional way till now. The Dharmadi Satyam team says efforts will be made to find the boat.
However, the authorities have stopped the extraction work due to heavy rains in the upper regions of Godavari since midday and flood waters in Godavari. The decision seems to be part of a precautionary measure to prevent another accident due to flooding. However, the family members are in tears as the bodies of the dead bodies have not been spotted for nearly 20 days.
