AP govt. permits Papikondalu tourism, boat services begin

Tourists, nature lovers, and boat owners are elated as the government has granted permission for tourism at Papikondalu where Hundreds of families are directly and indirectly dependent on this. Papikondalu tourism has come to a standstill for the past four months due to flooding in the Godavari. As the water level in this area is favorable, the government has permitted Papikondalu excursion boats on Saturday. With this, the officials of the tourism department conducted a trial run for the Papikondalu.

On the first day of the Papikondala excursion, only one boat is available on Sunday. AP Tourism and Private Tourism have made tickets available for this trip from Saturday. The authorities have made all arrangements for the boats to depart for the excursion. As part of this, officials and staff of the Revenue, Police, Tourism, and Irrigation Departments were engaged in duties at the boat point and control room at Poshammagandi. They checked the safety measures in all the boats at the boat point.

Keeping in view the incidents of the past, the government has given the highest priority to the safety of tourists and granted them permits. A pilot boat leaves before the departure of the tour boat with tourists from Poshammagandi boat point. It has a satellite phone along with one tourist staff and a yard swimmer. They also have a walkie-talkie. The pilot boat goes ahead of the tour boat and assesses the situation in the Godavari from time to time. Even if there is any trouble, the control room and the boat coming behind will be informed immediately through the walkie-talkie.

There are a total of 15 boats at Poshamma Gandi boat point, out of which permission has been granted to eight boats. Officials said that another seven boats have to be permitted after a fitness check. There are 17 boats at the Pochavaram boat point of VR Puram mandal and 13 boats have been given fitness permission.