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.
