Lack of boat services causes hardship to 50,000 tribals living on Godavari banks

RAJAMAHENDRAVARAM: For more than 50,000 tribals living in about 100 Agency villages of East and West Godavari districts, crossing Godavari has become a tough task due to suspension of boat services in the river after the Royal Vasishta mishap at Katchuluru in Devipatnam mandal on September 15, 2019.  

Though permission has been given for operation of tourist boats to Papi Hills, operation of mechanised boats in the river is yet to resume. 

As a result, tribals living in VR Puram, Kunavaram, Chintur and Yetapaka mandals in East Godavari and Velerupadu, Kukunoor and Burgampahad mandals in West Godavari located on either side of the river are forced to travel long distances in RTC buses, autos and other modes of transport to go to other side of Godavari for their daily needs. It is barely less than an hour travel to cross the river in mechanised boats covering a distance of not more than 4 km, which saves time and money. 

Panchayats lost Rs 15L annual revenue source

Due to suspension of boat services between the two banks of the river, tribals of Kunavaram have to go to Bhadrachalam in an RTC bus covering a distance of 60 km. At Bhadrachalam, they need to board another bus to reach Kukunoor or Velerupadu, which are 50 to 60 km away from the place. 

The tribal people are forced to spend several hours, besides incurring huge transportation costs.  “If the State government permits operation of boats in the river, we can reach our destination within a short time without spending much. Now, we are forced to spend a few hundreds of Rupees as RTC bus charges. It is unfair on the part of the government to continue suspension of mechanised boat services in the river while permitting operation of tourist boats,” said Kunavaram sarpanch Katta Rajamma. 

“The distance between Kunavaram ferry point in East Godavari and Rudramkota ferry point in West Godavari is only 3 km. Now, it is taking six to seven hours for us to reach Rudramkota by bus via Bhadrachalam,” said Komaram Pentaiah, MPTC member of Kunavaram. 

Rudramkota and Kunavaram village panchayats used to get an annual revenue of Rs 15 lakh through operation of boat services between the two ferry points. Both the panchayats have not been getting any revenue for the past few years. 

Andhra Pradesh Girijana Samakhya West Godavari district secretary Karam Daraiah demanded that the State government resume boat services between East and West Godavari districts for the benefit of tribals living on either side of the river.