Cyclone Tauktae: ONGC announces ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh for deceased family, Rs 1 lakh for injured

Cyclone Tauktae had hit Arabian Sea off the coast of Mumbai in the early hours of May 17, where ONGC’s major production installations and drilling rigs are located.

"Three construction barges of  Afcons working on a project of ONGC in Western Offshore fields in the Arabian Sea and one floater drilling rig of ONGC were severely impacted in the cyclone," the public sector company said.

"All the anchors of the Barge P-305 had given away, it started drifting and hit an unmanned platform of ONGC resulting in water ingress and eventually capsized at around 1700 Hrs of 17 May 2021," it added.

ONGC OSVs (Offshore Supply Vessels), INS Kochi and INS Kolkata of Indian Navy and Coast Guard vessel were immediately pressed into service for rescue operation and the extensive search and rescue operations are still continuing ro locate the missing individuals.

"ONGC pays its gratitude to all those who helped fight the calamity. During this fight against ferocity of nature, employees on board displayed exemplary courage and continued their efforts to steer barges and rig to safety with beaten down functionality," the company said in the statement.

"We are saddened by the events and express our deep sorrow at the loss of life and pay our tributes to the BNVs (Brave, Nature’s Victims). The combined rescue and search efforts will be continued for few more days and we hope that it will help us save more lives," it added.

In this hour of grief, Afcons are working on the compensation for the affected crew, which will be operationalized soon, it informed.

"ONGC has also setup a helpdesk to extend help. ONGC will facilitate the dependent family members of the rescued crew in providing logistics and expenses,"the official statement said.

According to media reports, 51 people were killed, and 24 are still missing in the aftermath of Cyclone Tauktae which hit Arabian Sea off the coast of Mumbai in the early hours of May 17. Wind speed rose to nearly 150-180 km/hour, with 6-8-metre high waves where ONGC’s major production installations and drilling rigs are located.