Mumbai: Battling tidal waves as high as 10 metres and strong winds while trying to stay afloat in the cyclone-hit rough Arabian Sea for almost 12 hours, workmen rescued from a sinking barge near here narrated their horrifying experience in their quest for survival.
Some of them said they had almost lost the hope of making it alive back home.
The warship INS Kochi arrived in Mumbai on Wednesday with 125 workmen rescued from barge P305, an accommodation barge that sank amid the cyclone Tauktae fury.
Of the 273 people on the ill-fated barge, 184 have been rescued so far by the Indian Navy.
"It was a horrific situation on the barge. I had not thought I would survive. But, I swam in the waters for seven to eight hours with the determination to stay alive and was rescued by the Navy," workman Manoj Gite told reporters here.
Gite (19), a resident of Kolhapur, said as the barge started sinking, all workmen got worried and he along with others wore a life jacket and jumped into the waters.
The workman, who had joined as a helper on the barge only last month, said said he lost all his documents and mobile phone in the cyclonic storm.
Asked if he would return to the rig again, Gite said he is not keen to go back and is contented to be alive after the nightmarish experience.
Another workman, who was injured in the incident, thanked the Indian Navy for saving his life.
"It is because of the Navy that we all are alive and safe today, otherwise we don't what would have happened to us," the workman said while fighting back his tears.
One of the officials on the barge had claimed the cyclone was "not huge", another workman said.
"The official is now missing. We tried to search for him, but in vain," he said.
Another rescued workman said as their barge started sinking, he jumped into the waters in the middle of the night and tried to stay afloat.
Meanwhile, after the west coast, another cyclone is likely to hit the east coast by May 26-27, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Wednesday.
A low pressure area is very likely to form over north Andaman Sea and adjoining east-central Bay of Bengal around May 22.
"It is very likely to intensify gradually into a cyclonic storm during the subsequent 72 hours. It is very likely to move northwestwards and reach West Bengal - Odisha coasts around 26th May evening," the Cyclone Warning Division of the IMD said.
It added that the southwest monsoon is very likely to advance over south Andaman Sea and adjoining southeast Bay of Bengal around May 21 in association with the likely strengthening and deepening of southwesterly winds over the region.
Furthermore, cyclone Tauktae has triggered heavy rains in southern districts of Rajasthan in the last 24 hours while it is expected to weaken in the next 12 hours, Met officials said on Wednesday.
The cyclonic storm entered southern Rajasthan late on Tuesday night causing heavy rains in the region and it was centred 60 km southwest of Udaipur on Wednesday morning, a spokesman of the regional Meteorological Department said.
In the next 12 hours, the cyclone is expected to weaken and turn into a low pressure area and move to northeast Rajasthan, he said.