12 Kolkata: The Bangladeshi barge, whose hull had nearly split in two halves after it ran aground when it struck a sand bar or char off Ghoramara Island, has remained stranded in the waters for 60 hours since Thursday afternoon.
Dewatering operations using several pumping units started on Friday, said Ghoramara panchayat pradhan, Ambiya Khatun Bibi. But the situation has deteriorated with the crack widening and more than 60% of the vessel being submerged, triggering fears of pollution, both from the oil in its tank and the fly ash cargo it was ferrying from Budge Budge to Bangladesh.
The cabin section continued to sink deeper during high tide. Water ingress has made the fly ash load heavy. The agency that operates the Bangladeshi vessel claimed they had entrusted local engineers and mechanics with the task to retrieve the vessel. "An engineering team is at the site and conducting assessment," an agency official said. Koteswar Rao, SP of Sundarbans police district, said engineers were proceeding with their planned operations at the site.
Expertssaid pulling the 100-ft vessel out was challenging. Local fishermen claimedthere was no tangible progress in the recovery efforts.