26 bodies recovered, 49 still missing from sunken barge
Mumbai/ Kolkata/Ahmedabad/ Bhubaneswar: As many as 26 personnel on board accommodation barge P305 that went adrift in Cyclone Tauktae fury before sinking in the Arabian Sea off Mumbai coast are dead and 49 are still missing, as the Navy continued search and rescue operations through the night.
The Navy said its personnel, battling extreme weather, have so far rescued 186 of the 261 people who were onboard barge P305 and also two from tugboat Varaprada. Chances of finding more survivors are looking bleak, an official said.
The Navy had so far maintained that there were 273 persons on board the barge but an official on Wednesday evening said that the company which operated it has informed that there were 261 personnel on board the ill-fated barge.
Mumbai Police will conduct a probe as to why the ill- fated barge P-305 stayed in the area despite warnings about cyclone Tauktae, an official said.
The Yellow Gate Police in south Mumbai on Wednesday registered an accidental death report (ADR) in connection with persons on the barge whose bodies have been recovered.
Warships INS Kochi, INS Kolkata, INS Beas, INS Betwa, INS Teg, P8I maritime surveillance aircraft, Chetak, ALH & Seaking helicopters are involved in the SAR operations.
All the 137 personnel on barge GAL Constructor were rescued on Tuesday by the Navy and Coast Guard. The 196 personnel on barge SS-3 and 101 personnel on board oil rig Sagar Bhushan are safe, the official said.
Three barges and an oil rig with 695 personnel on board went adrift on Monday. These included barge P305 with 261 persons, cargo barge GAL Constructor with 137 personnel on board, accommodation barge SS-3 with 196 personnel on board and the Sagar Bhushan oil rig with 101 personnel on board, the official said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday approved assistance Rs 1,000 crore for "immediate relief activities" in Gujarat after conducting an aerial survey of areas hit by cyclone Tauktae in the state.
He also announced ex-gratia compensation of Rs 2 lakh for the kin of those killed due to cyclone in all affected states.
Immediate financial assistance for the other affected states would be given after the respective state governments share assessment of the damage with the Centre, the Press Information Bureau (PIB) release added.
Earlier, officials on Wednesday said that as many as 46 people were killed in the incidents related to cyclone Tauktae in Gujarat which made landfall on Monday night and left a trail of destruction before weakening and moving to Rajasthan.
Thousands of houses were damaged and trees and electricity poles were uprooted as Tauktae brought along heavy rains and high winds.
Of 46 deaths, 15 were reported from Amreli district in Saurashtra region, among the worst affected by the cyclone that crossed the state coast as an "extremely severe cyclonic storm" on Monday night.
Eight people each were killed in Bhavnagar and Gir Somnath districts, an official of the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) said.
Five were killed in Ahmedabad, two each in Kheda and Panchmahal and one each in Anand, Vadodara, Surat, Valsad, Rajkot and Navsari districts, the official said. A total of 24 persons were killed in wall collapse incidents, six died in tree falls, five died due to electrocution or house collapse. One person died when a mobile tower crashed, the official said.
A total of 71 talukas (tehsils) in Gujarat were affected by the cyclone.
As many as 30,000 structures including 28,430 kachcha houses, 74,493 electricity poles and 674 roads were damaged, 68,753 trees uprooted and power supply snapped in over 9,000 villages. The cyclone also killed 635 cattle, the SEOC said.
The coastal states of West Bengal and Odisha Wednesday started preparing for a possible cyclone hitting the eastern coast on May 26, in the backdrop of the devastating cyclone Taukte which hit the west coast of India on Monday.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday directed senior government officials to make all necessary arrangements after the weather office warned about a cyclonic storm that may hit the eastern coastline of Bengal and Odisha.
Chairing a virtual meeting, Banerjee directed officers to arrange for adequate stock of medicines, drinking water, dry food and tarpaulins, officials said.
She also told the officers to ensure that enough force, from state disaster management team and police, are deployed, they said.
The Odisha state government too has asked the collectors of coastal districts to remain alert and make necessary arrangements in the wake of the weather department's forecast.
Special Relief Commissioner PK Jena held a meeting with the district collectors and police chiefs, besides speaking to the senior officials of the local meteorological office, NDRF, ODRAF, the Odisha Police and the fire brigade, among others.
A low-pressure area is very likely to form over North Andaman Sea and adjoining east central Bay of Bengal on May 22 and intensify into a cyclonic storm, the Met Department said.
This is very likely to move north-westwards and reach West Bengal-Odisha coasts around May 26 evening, Regional Met Director GK Das said.
The low-pressure area, after formation on May 22, is very likely to intensify into a cyclonic storm during the subsequent 72 hours.
Light to moderate rainfall is likely to commence from May 25 in the coastal districts of West Bengal, he said. This is likely to increase significantly over all the south Bengal districts and intensify thereafter, Das said.
Warning that sea conditions are likely to be rough to very rough, the Met Department advised fishermen not to venture into the Bay of Bengal from May 24.
