The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the Indian Navy, the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), the Fire Department and the police are making all efforts to extricate the private tourist boat, which had capsized and submerged in the Godavari on Sunday. The ill-fated boat overturned in the river near Thutukunta hamlet killing many, including women and children. Speaking to The Hindu on Tuesday, Director General Police D. Gautam Sawang said, according to sources, the depth of the Godavari at Kachluru was more than 100 metres.
Limited by capacity
“The Sonar technology (or camera), which has a capacity to scan up to 100 metres, has been sent into the river, but it could not trace the vessel, indicating that the boat might be stuck deeper,” the DGP said. According to Mr. Sawang, experts are studying the flood, undercurrent and whirlpools at the spot to extricate the ill-fated boat.
“The depth of Godavari, where the mishap occurred is about 200 metres. The vessel might be stuck on the riverbed. This is a challenging operation,” said an expert, who participated in many such operations across the country. NDRF Second-in-Commandant S.N. Sharma, who is camping at Devipatnam for the last three days to monitor the operation, said a series of meetings were held to retrieve the boat from the river, which was in spate.
‘Tough task’
“We are trying to locate the boat and its position in the river. As the operation has to be done on waters with high intensity, it has become a tough task,” Mr. Sharma said.
Rampachodavaram Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Vakul Jindal said there were indications of oil leakage in the river at Kachluru on Monday.
“The search teams traced many bodies on Tuesday at the spot where the mishap occurred, which indicates that the boat was stuck at the same place. But there were no clues about the boat’s location,” Mr. Vakul said.