‘May need five-six days to salvage barge from river’
Times of India | 21 January 2025
123 Kolkata: With rescue operations underway, the retrieval of the submerged Bangladeshi barge — A D Basiruddin Kaji — carrying fly ash is expected to take five to six more days, raising fresh concerns about the navigability of the Hooghly channel.
According to police, the vessel is currently near Halisahar in North 24-Parganas. It had partially sank in Hooghly near Bansberia following a breach that led water to ingress, the vessel's crew claimed. Authorities acted swiftly, with rescue teams from the Hooghly police and Chandernagore Police Commissionerate evaluating the situation. Chandernagore Police commissioner Amit Kumar Javalgi confirmed the barge's location near Halisahar, while Mogra Police also launched an investigation. On Sunday, expert labourers from Sandeshkhali were brought in to unload the fly ash and reduce the barge's weight. Once the cargo is cleared, repairs will allow the barge to return to Bangladesh.
Efforts are ongoing to recover the fly ash and refloat the vessel, but questions remain about long-term solutions for improving safety and navigability on the Hooghly and other critical waterways.