Cyclone Tauktae: Govt constitutes inquiry committee to probe stranding, drifting of vessels into sea

Cyclone Tauktae`s intensity weakened on Wednesday but rains continued for the most part of the day. It has impacted the weather conditions in several parts of Northern India including Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi where heavy rainfall was witnessed.

New Delhi: The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has constituted a 3-member High-Level Committee to inquire into the incident of several vessels drifting into the sea due to Cyclone Tauktae. 

The committee has been asked to submit its inquiry report in one month. The high-level committee comprises of Directorate General of Hydrocarbons, Directorate General of Shipping and Joint Secretary Ministry of Defence.

In a tweet, the Ministry informed, “MoPNG constitutes a 3-member High-Level Committee (HLC) comprising of SCL Das, DG @DghIndia, Amitabh Kumar, @dgship_goi and Nazli Jafri Shayin, JS Ministry of Defence to inquire into the incident of several vessels drifting into the sea.”

“The committee will inquire into the sequence of events leading to the stranding and drifting of these vessels, and subsequent events thereof and will also make recommendations to prevent recurrence of such incidents in future. The HLC will submit its report in one month,” it further said.

The cyclone’s intensity weakened on Wednesday but rains continued for the most part of the day. It has impacted the weather conditions in several parts of Northern India including Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi where heavy rainfall was witnessed. 

With 38 people on board the barge that sank in the Arabian Sea four days ago still missing, Indian Navy ships worked through the night, using searchlights to trace any movement in the pitch dark waters, as hopes of finding more survivors began to recede on Thursday.

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, after Navy personnel, battling extreme weather, so far rescued 186 of the 261 people who were on board the barge P305 and two personnel from tugboat Varaprada.