Congress seeks resignation of petroleum minister over barge tragedy

Maharashtra Congress 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

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.