The Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC) will conduct the trial run of a passenger boat service on the Godavari river between Singanapalli and Papikonda hill range on April 15.
Boat services to the Papikonda hill range were halted in 2019 after a private boat capsized at Kachuluru in Devipatnam mandal in East Godavari district, killing 46 passengers from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
APTDC Divisional Manager (East and West Godavari districts) Thota Veera Narayana told The Hindu that the Haritha boat service will be run on a trial basis between Singanapalli boating point in West Godavari to the Papikonda hill range on April 15 to assess the possibilities and for the technical examination of the boat.
“If the trial run succeeds, commercial service will be resumed with immediate effect, deploying two boats - Haritha and Sir Arthur Cotton - for tourism activity as part of the Papikonda hill range tourism,” said Mr. Veera Narayana.
“Each of the two APTDC boats has a 90-seat capacity. However, the trial run will be conducted with 60 passengers only,” he added.
The Department of Ports has issued the necessary technical clearances to run the boats on the Godavari as per the new guidelines framed after the Kachuluru incident for boating services in all tourist places.
