Papikondalu Boat Rides Resume, Check Boating Points Details

7 Nov, 2021 15:44 IST|Sakshi Post

EAST GODAVARI: After two years, the popular Papikondalu boating rides on the Godavari river in the district are set to resume from Sunday in the State. The Andhra Pradesh government has given the green signal for both AP Tourism and private tour boats to conduct the Papikondala rides which were stalled due to the COVID pandemic and subsequent lockdowns. The AP Maritime Board has approved 16 boats that have obtained fitness certificates in accordance with government regulations to ply the tour boats between the scenic hills of Papikondalu.

Boating Points: Permission was granted for 11 boats from Pochammagandi boat point and 5 boats from Pochavaram boat point. The first set of these boats will depart from Pochammagandi on Sunday.

Acting upon the orders of the East Godavari District Collector Chevuri Harikiran, the trial run was successfully conducted at Pochammagandi on Saturday. The boats departed from the Perantalapally launch dock behind the pilot boats, which went ahead first in the presence of tourism, police, revenue, and ITDA officials.

Ramapachodavaram ITDA project officer CV Praveen Adhitya and East Godavari joint collector A Bhargav Teja inspected the Gandi Posamma boating point in Devipatnam Mandal.

Safety precautions taken by the AP government:

►Establishment of five control rooms with the Departments of Revenue, Police, Tourism, and Water Resources for the protection and safety of tourists.

►Deputy Tahsildar will be the Control Room Manager.

► Tourism, water resources, and police officers carry out three types of checks on the safety and security of tourists at control rooms. The manager will take these into consideration and allow the boat to sail. Only after inspections and upon receipt of dispatch certificate issued by the revenue department will the tourist boats be allowed to operate.

►The pilot‌ speed boat must leave first with a rescue team consisting of swimmers. Another 3 or 5 boats have to travel behind them.

►A satellite phone will be made available on the boat in the escort boat following them. The information must be provided to the control room on the satellite phone after each point. Any minor incident should be reported to the control room immediately.

►A cruise without a pilot boat is not allowed.

► The launch boat should be operated only by a licensed driver‌.

►Water Resources Department will allow these excursions only at a time when 3 lakh cusecs of water are being released downstream at Dhavaleswaram.

►Boats are allowed to operate only after operators' signatures are taken on affidavits.

►Tourists should not be loaded beyond the specified capacity (70 to 90 people).

► All the passengers in the boat including the operators and staff will be given life jackets for safety.

► COVID protocol will be enforced strictly and passengers must wear masks.

Only after inspections under three categories near the control rooms, and receipt of the dispatch certificate issued by the revenue department will the tourist boats be allowed to operate. We have taken all the precautions for Papikondala tourism in the Godavari. Arrangements have been made with the primary aim of ensuring the safety of tourists so that past incident (Devipatnam boat tragedy) is not repeated. Depending on the size of the boat, only 70 to 90 tourists are allowed, said G.Raghava Rao, Kakinada Port Officer.

How to reach the boating points:

From Rajahmundry:

For tourists coming for the boat ride, boats will depart from two places in the East Godavari district.

Tourists can alight from the boat point at the Pochammagandi Temple in Devipatnam Mandal. Tourists must first reach Godavari Pushkar Ghat in Rajahmundry. Tickets can be purchased by visiting the Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC) office there or by booking on the APTDC website.

The government has capped the fare for the boat ride at Rs 1,250 per person, which includes transport and food charges.

APTDC will take tourists by road from Rajahmundry to Pochammagandi via Purushottapatnam which is about 42 km from Rajahmundry.

The boat leaves Pochammagandi at 10 am. Tourists on the boat are served breakfast in the morning, vegetarian lunch in the afternoon, snacks and tea in the evening. Tourists can also reach Pochammagandi directly, buy tickets and board a boat. From the boating point, the fee is Rs.1,000 per person from Pochammagandi.

Tourists coming from Telangana and other places

Tourists coming from Telangana should reach Pochavaram, VR Puram Mandal in East Godavari District. However, officials say it will take another four to six days for the boats to start operations from here. Ticket rates from here have not even been decided yet.

Five control rooms have been set up at various boating points. Nine private and four tourism department boats have been permitted to ferry passengers so far.

Also, the tourism department has made arrangements for the resumption of boating services between Berm Park and Bhavani Island in Krishna river from Sunday.

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