Telangana’s victims of Godavari Boat Accident get ex gratia, magisterial inquiry begins

By Express News Service

VIJAYAWADA/RAJAMAHENDRAVARAM: The State government on Friday sanctioned Rs 10 lakh each to the families of the 12 persons from neighbouring Telangana State, who died in the Royal Vasishta boat capsize incident in River Godavari near Kachaluru village of Devipatnam mandal in East Godavari district. The government sanctioned Rs 1.20 crore from the Chief Minister’s relief fund as ex gratia to the bereaved families from Telangana State.

With the operations to retrieve the ill-fated Royal Vasishta coming to an end just a couple of days ago with Kakinada-based Dharmadi Satyam pulling out the boat and retrieving seven bodies from it, bodies of all passengers from Telangana State have been retrieved. With the identity of the victims also ascertained, the hurdles for extending the ex gratia were cleared and the government issued a GO sanctioning the amount.
The families of victims Baski Rajendar, Baske Avinash, Baske Rajendraprasad, Gore Rajendra Prasad, Baski Venkatayya alias Venkataswamy, Domala Hemanth, Baske Dharmaraju, Kommula Ravi, Konduru Rajkumar (all from Warangal district), Repakula Vishnu Kumar from Khammam district, Gaddameedi Sunil from Jangaon and Eran Sai Kumar from Ranga Reddy district will be given the amount.
Meanwhile, magisterial enquiry into the boat capsize began on Friday. East Godavari Joint Collector Lakshmi Shah said the enquiry will be carried out in a fair manner and the report would be submitted to the government within 15 days.

He visited Kachaluru village in Devipatnam mandal along with ITDA Project Officer Nishant Kumar, sub-collector Praveen Aditya, Rampachodavaram ASP Vakul Jindal and Dowaleswaram Irrigation department superintending engineer N Krishnarao.

The team led by the JC spoke to the villagers of Kachaluru and Manturu and enquired about the accident. He enquired whether the driver of Royal Vasishta, was a known face or had hands-on-experience in steering passenger boats or not. The local fishermen were also asked for measures that could be taken up to ensure that such accidents are not repeated in the future.  

N Lakshman Rao, one of the villagers said it was better to stop plying boats in the Godavari during July, August, September and October. Accidents could be avoided this way.“Upon hearing a loud noise, we came out of our houses to find the boat sinking in the river and passengers screaming for help,” one of the locals said. The fishermen had rushed to their aid and saved 26 persons on the fateful day.  During the visit, fishermen appealed to the JC to provide rehabilitation to them and improve road connectivity in the area.

Rs 25,000 aid to each fisherman
Nishant Kumar said the government announced Rs 25,000 financial assistance to each of the fishermen who saved the passengers on September 15. For the same, proper identification process will begin soon, he said

DIG felicitates Dharmadi and team
Kakinada: Dharmadi Satyam, the man who led the retrieval mission of capsized boat Royal Vasishta, was by Yeluru Range Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) AS Khan and district superintendent of police (SP) Nayeem Asmi here on Friday.  The DIG presented Rs 50,000 cash reward and appreciation certificates to Satyam and team. Also, Rs 10,000 for five members of the team was given for retrieving the bodies from the boat. Additional SP SV Sridhar, OSD Arifh Hafeez and others were also present

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