Barge toll now 49, hope fades for 37 people still missing
MUMBAI: Navy rescuers on Thursday recovered the bodies of 23 crew members of a barge that sank after being clobbered by Cyclone Tauktae, pushing the death toll to 49, as hope appeared to fade for 37 other people still missing three days after the powerful storm pummeled India’s western coast.
Officials said five navy ships, one aircraft and three helicopters expanded their area of search to recover the 37 people – 26 from the barge P305 and 11 from a tugboat – who may have drifted further into the sea by gale-force winds.
“Ships and aircraft continue to search for the remaining crew,” said Mehul Karnik, chief public relations officer of the Western Naval Command.
The search and rescue operations involves Indian Navy Ship (INS) Kochi, Talwar, Tejas, Betwa and Beas. The efforts are being augmented by aerial surveys undertaken by P-8I surveillance aircrafts and two Sea King helicopters, Chetak and advanced light helicopters. Coast Guard units have also joined the search for the missing crew.
The “extremely severe” cyclone, the most powerful one to barrel through the region in over two decades, caused gusts of wind up to 210kmph and ninemetre-high waves as it raced past Mumbai and made landfall in Gujarat on Monday night.
The havoc forced governments in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Kerala to evacuate hundreds of thousands of people in low-lying areas with at least 60 people losing their lives in storm-related incidents. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inspected the damage in Gujarat from the air on Wednesday, promising government assistance.
About 186 people have been rescued out of 261 on board the
barge that sank after the storm hit the Bombay High oilfield on Monday near Mumbai, where some of the country’s biggest offshore oil rigs are located. P305 and two other barges pounded by the cyclone were deployed by Afcons Infrastructure for a contract from state-owned major, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC).
The barge sent an SOS on Monday afternoon after its anchors gave away, leaving it floating adrift. It eventually sank around 7pm. Navy rushed three ships for the survivors on Monday evening and INS Kolkata rescued two people out of a crew of 13 on tugboat Varaprada.
Navy officials have said the search was one of the most challenging undertaken by the force in four decades due to choppy seas and inclement weather. Rescuers initially limited themselves to an area of 550-750 square kilometres, but after bodies were found to have drifted further, the search area was increased from Wednesday night and by Thursday evening, it was widened to 1,800-2,300 square kilometres. Officials said the area would be further increased, if required. On land, the deaths sparked a political controversy with the Congress, Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party – which together run Maharashtra’s Maha Vikas Aghadi government – blaming ONGC and the Centre for the deaths.
State minority affairs minister Nawab Malik accused ONGC of neglecting cyclone warnings and risking the lives of 700 workers. Shiv Sena asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to seek the resignation of petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan, whose ministry oversees ONGC.
Rahman Shaikh, chief engineer of the P-305 barge, alleged its captain Balwinder Singh did not take the cyclone warning seriously. In a statement, Afcons Infrastructure claimed on Thursday that the barge master chose to stay close to the oil field despite warnings. It also said the responsibility of all marine operations lay with the owners, Durmast Enterprises. As people returned to their homes on the western coast, those on the eastern coast braced for another cyclone.
The India Meteorological Department said Cyclone Yaas is likely to intensify within the next 72 hours in the Bay of Bengal, bringing back memories of Cyclone Amphan, which bruised West Bengal and Odisha and killed at least 100 people last year. “Another Cyclone Yaas is approaching. We have started preparing. All district magistrates have been alerted, particularly officials in the Sunderbans and coastal districts,” said Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday.
Authorities warned fishermen and mariners in the Bay of Bengal to return to shore or take shelter at nearest ports. Banerjee held a review meeting at the state secretariat with top officials from various departments associated with disaster management. “Last year, too, when Cyclone Amphan had hit, corona was taking its toll. But this time cases are much higher. Hence, we have to plan accordingly,” said a senior official of North 24 Parganas, one of the coastal districts.