East Godavari district Collector Kartikeya Misra on Thursday announced that 19 persons drowned and one was missing in the boat tragedy that took place in Godavari river near Manturu on Tuesday evening.
As many as 17 people, including four members of the boat’s crew survived, while K. Yesu Babu, 20, a resident of Talluru village in Devipatnam mandal was missing. Search operations are in progress in the river to trace him. All the deceased belonged to East Godavari district and the bodies had been handed over to their families after conducting the inquest and the post-mortem.
Releasing the list of survivors and the deceased at a press conference here on Thursday afternoon, the Collector said that the boat capsized as the driver lost his control on the wheel due to the bad weather and admitted that the doors of the downstairs area were closed at the time of the incident. He also confirmed that stocks of cement bags were loaded into the boat and the same were retrieved from the vessel along with the bodies.
“It is a natural calamity, which could have been prevented by taking precautions such as not allowing the commodities into the boat and making mandatory wearing of lifejackets by all the commuters. Half an hour prior to the accident, a weather alert was disseminated to all the BSNL mobile phones in the area that there was a possibility of heavy rain. Unfortunately, the boat’s crew turned overconfident and drove the boat into a sort of whirlpool amid the river,” Mr. Misra said, adding that boat operations were suspended in and around Devipatnam except for medical emergencies and the road network would be improved very soon in Kondamodalu area.
“We are now focusing on improving road and communication networks in the area. It is proposed to install 47 mobile phone towers in the entire agency area including Devipatnam,” he explained. He further said that steps would be taken to send the officials to the villages frequently to deliver the ration and issue certificates to the residents, so that the boat travels would be reduced. “We are also planning to send the children from the villages to the residential schools,” he said.
The list of deceased: Konuthula Chiranjeevi, 35, Konuthula Siva Kumari, 30, Konuthula Ramudu, 1, and Konuthula Lakshman, 1, all residents of Talluru in Devipatnam mandal, Yedida Seetharamudu, 60, of Kondamodalu, Neram Durgamma, 45 and Illa Savitri, 35, both residents of Katchuluru, Kondla Rami Reddy, 60 and Nadipudi Akkamma, 30, both residents of Tadiwada, Konuthula Bullamma, 45, Kamisetti Chantabbai, 75, Padam Naga Jyothi, 35, Chiduguri Subbalakshmi, 20, Tokala Ganga, 28, Tokala Subrahmanyam, 6, Murla Mangatayaru, 60, and Konuthula Majoj, 4, all residents of K. Gonduru village in Devipatnammandal, Madi Buchamma, 52 and Madi Ramayamma, 35, both residents of Peddabeerampalliin Rampachodavaram mandal.
The list of survivors: Neram Venkateswara, 29, Neram Pallayya, 50, Nesika Lakshman Rao, 29, Patam Ganesh, 24, Illa Sirisha, 18, and Teegala Chinna Rao, 45, all residents of Katchuluru mandal in Devipatnam mandal, Konuthula Ramachandra, 5, of Talluru village in Devipatnan mandal, Nadipudi Ashwini, 20, Tadiwada village in Devipatnam mandal, Podiyam Siramamma, 25, of Kothagudem village in Devipatnam mandal, Tokala Posamma, 35, of K. Gonduru village in Devipatnam mandal, Thati Bullabbai, 45, and Vanjam Raju, 30, both residents of Kokkaragudem village in Devipatnam mandal and the boat’s crew Sheik Khaja Mohinuddin, 46, Bandi Mohan Rao, 55, Bandi Rambabu, 30, of Kondamodalu in Devipatnam mandal and one Narasimha Murthy from Sivagiri village of Polavaram mandal in West Godavari district.
