Andhra Pradesh: Govt to set up control rooms to prevent boat accidents

The Andhra Pradesh government is all set to inaugurate as many as eight control rooms to ensure the prevention of boat accidents on November 21. Along with it, the government is aiming to tighten procedures to issue licences for boats and impart training to operators among the other measures. According to a press release, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy on Wednesday chaired a review meeting to take necessary precautions to prevent boat accidents and decided to set up eight control rooms for prevention of boat accidents and security. 

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About the control rooms

According to reports, the control rooms will be in charge of the Mandal Revenue Officer (MRO) and will include staff from the Water Resources, Police, and Tourism Department. Further reports stated that CM Reddy has instructed around 13 personnel staff and three police constables to be in each control room. Along with it, he has instructed that there should be continuous information with the control room on the movement of boats, their routes, and information about floods. He also instructed the officials to attach GPS connections, ban the consumption of alcohol by staff and conduct breath analyser tests on staff. He further stated that permission should be given to boats only after thorough checking and make sure that the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) is installed on the boats. According to reports, the control rooms will be operational within 90 days. 

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Royal Vasishta boat capsized

The Andhra Pradesh government took the decision to set up control rooms after the ' Royal Vasishta' capsized in river Godavari on September 15. According to reports, there were around 77 persons present on the boat. Out of them, only 26 are said to survive the incident. Furthermore, it was reported that the boat was brought out of the river and pulled to the shore on October 22.

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(WITH ANI INPUTS)