KURNOOL: The enormity of the boat tragedy unfolded only on Friday as hundreds of grieving relations of the victims flocked to the river bank of the Krishna near Nehrunagar on the Kurnool-Mahabubnagar border.

A country boat with over 80 pilgrims on board capsized in the backwaters of Srisailam reservoir around 2.45 p.m. on Thursday. Only 16, including two women and one child, could be rescued while the rest were missing.

With the help of survivors and close relatives of the victims, the officials prepared a list of 61 persons who were missing or feared dead. As the water was about 70-120 feet deep at the spot where the boat capsized, expert divers deployed by the Government could not make headway in their search for bodies. Officials said they expected the bodies to float 24 hours after the accident.

A team of 15 naval divers equipped with advanced gadgets was on its way from Visakhapatnam to assist the search operations. None of the bodies has surfaced till evening. Five mechanized boats were kept on standby to collect the bodies.

Rescued

Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, accompanied by Minister for Commercial Taxes Konatala Ramakrishna, rushed to the accident site by helicopter and consoled families of the victims. He listened to the account of survivors and discussed the relief with officials.

Dr. Reddy rolled out a massive relief package for the next of kin of the victims, comprising ex gratia of Rs. 2 lakhs (Rs. 1 lakh for children), two acres of land for each of 32 affected families, Rs. 50,000 under National Family Benefit Scheme if the victim was the family breadwinner, houses, education for orphaned children, sheep for shepherds and fibre boats for fishermen families.

Five youths who rescued 16 persons after the ill-fated boat toppled were rewarded with Rs. 50,000 each to purchase mechanised boats for commercial operations. The Chief Minister announced that a bridge would be constructed across the river at a cost of Rs. 75 crores connecting the two banks of the Krishna.

Telugu Desam Party president N. Chandrababu Naidu also visited the spot and criticised the Government for tardy progress of relief operations. He demanded payment Rs. 5 lakhs to the family of each victim.

Narrow route

Meanwhile, the narrow, 10-km-long narrow cart track to the riverbank hindered movement of vehicles. Only jeeps and tractors could reach the place. In the absence of any organised transport, the narrow route overflowed with people all along. For many mourners, the tragedy was too painful to bear and health teams administered saline to dozens of people who fainted.

The Police registered a case of negligence (Sec. 304A IPC) but two of the six boatmen were also missing.

Most survivors were in a state of deep shock and lost for words.

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