VISAKHAPATNAM: The boat, which hit a pillar of an under-construction bridge in river Godavari in East Godavari district on Saturday evening, did not have a valid license from the AP Ports, which is the licensing authority.The incident happened at 19.33hrs on Saturday. Total seven people were feared dead in the mishap, officials say. All are female. Rescue operations with total 165 SDRF and NDRF resumed on Sunday.The incident happened while the boat, carrying 33 passengers, crossing the river from Saladivaripalemlanka to Pasuvulalanka, capsized at Pasuvulalanka.Speaking to TOI, Captain K Sridharma Sastha, port officer, AP Ports, said the boat was not registered with their department as per the rules.“Our team was sent to the spot to check the condition of the boat,” Sastha added.On the other hand, officials from the AP Ports said that not only this boat, many such other boats across the state, particularly in the areas along rivers Godavari and Krishna do not have the license from the Ports Department.According to the sources, only 150 out of around 800 boats in the state have a valid license from the AP Ports.The AP Ports was entrusted the task of issuing the license to the boats by the state government effective from November 2017. Before that, the state irrigation department used to take care of the issuance of the license.“If any boat operator comes up with valid documents and proper fitness conditions to us, we will be ready to issue the license within two days. Nearly 650 boats are yet to register with us,” a senior Ports official said.The boat operators were repeatedly told about the new rule, but they do not approach the Port authorities due to many reasons like unfit conditions of the boat, improper documents.

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