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Cyclone Tauktae: Kangra diver onboard tugboat still missing
The boat with nine crew members aboard left the Manglore port on May 14 to carry out maintenance work at the facility, 17km from the port; while returning to the shore on May 15, the boat was caught in the rough sea and capsized
A diver from Dharamshala has been missing at sea since May 15 after the tugboat he was deployed on capsized after Cyclone Tauktae hit the west coast of the country.
The 37-year-old sea diver, Pawan Chand Katoch of Gharoh village, which is 6km from Dharamshala, went missing off the Manglore port in Udupi district, Karnataka. He had been employed with Under Water Services Limited (UWSL) since 2009 and was deployed on the tugboat, Alliance, when the deadly cyclone ploughed through the costal state.
“We contacted UWSL’s senior diving manager Paramjeet Singh Jassal and vice-president Ravi Sexena but did not get a satisfactory response regarding the wellbeing of my son. We do not know whether they are putting any efforts to search for the missing men or not,” said his father, Jagroop Chand Katoch.
Congress general secretary Kewal Singh Pathania met Pawan’s family at Gharoh and assured them that all possible help will be provided. He also wrote a letter to the chief minister Jai Ram Thakur seeking his intervention in the matter.
“I urge you to take up the matter with the concerned state and the company to get information about Pawan Chand Katoch,” he wrote. It is learnt that the tugboat was contracted by Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL) for its single-point mooring facility.
The boat with nine crew members aboard left the Manglore port on May 14 to carry out maintenance work at the facility, 17km from the port. While returning to the shore on May 15, the boat was caught in the rough sea and capsized.
The damaged tugboat later washed ashore at Padubidri. Of eight workers, three survived, one died and the remaining, including Pawan, are missing.
