The Maharashtra Congress on
Thursday demanded the resignation of Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on moral grounds over the death of 37 personnel on board a barge that sank in the Arabian Sea, and termed it as a "manmade tragedy".
The Navy on Thursday morning launched a fresh aerial search and rescue mission, deploying helicopters to scour the waters off Mumbai coast, where the accommodation barge P305 went adrift in Cyclone Tauktae fury before it sank on Monday.
As many as 37 personnel on board the barge are dead and 38 still missing.
The Navy personnel, battling extreme weather, have so far rescued 186 of the 261 people who were on board the barge P305 and two personnel from tugboat Varaprada.
The barge 'P305' had gone adrift off the Heera oil fields in Bombay high area. The oil fields are located around 70 km southwest of Mumbai.
State Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant in a tweet said, "News of sinking of #ONGC barge P-305 resulting in the death of 37 workers is devastating. More than 38 ppl are still missing. This is clearly man-made tragedy as warning of imminent #TauktaeCyclone had bn given in advance. @dpradhanbjp must resign taking moral responsibility."
He demanded action against all those endangering the lives of workers who were on the barge.
"Modi govt's reckless approach in handling corona already caused deaths of lakhs of people & it is continuing to exhibit the same. When will Modi govt learn lessons from their grave mistakes?" Sawant said in another tweet.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Dear Reader,
Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.
We, however, have a request.
As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.
Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.
Digital Editor
RECOMMENDED FOR YOU