Andhra Pradesh boat tragedy: Daunting task to trace the missing people, say officials

DEVIPATNAM (EAST GODAVARI): Katchuluru, where the Royal Vasista boat tragedy occurred in river Godavari on Sunday, is said to be the most precarious point in that part of Godavari with it measuring a depth of nearly 250 feet.
According to the locals, the fateful Sunday tragedy is the third mishap occurred in the same spot in the last 50 years ago. A boat named Udaya Bhaskar capsized in the same spot in 1964, leading to the death of 60 passengers.
Another boat, named Jhansi Rani, met the same fate in the 1980s in the same place and 8 passengers died.
A country boat carrying nearly 40 passengers capsized in Pasuvullanka village, only a few kilometres away from Katchuluru, in East Godavari district in May 2018 after it had hit a pillar and turned turtle. And 22 people died in the mishap, including some students.
Even though the officials are yet to ascertain the reasons behind the boat capsize on Sunday, it is mainly attributed to strong conflicting currents which happens in the case of a whirlpool.
The representatives of the boat informed that the driver may not be able to control the boat in the strong currents. Some locals say that there are some protruding rocks under the water in the area, which might have also led to the accident.
Due to heavy inflows into the Godavari, district officials of East Godavari said it would be a daunting task to trace the missing persons. “If any missing passenger is dead, his/her body might have already washed away to far-off place given the continuous water flows. Search operations will continue until all the missing people are traced. The naval diving team will join the search operation for missing personnel from the capsized tourist boat. Two naval helicopters will also be deployed from INS Dega, Visakhapatnam on Monday morning to join the search operation along with other forces,” said the official.