Indian Coast Guard Rescues 182 Pilgrims in Swift Operation near Kakdwip

Kolkata: In a swift operation, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) rescued 182 Gangasagar pilgrims from a stranded vessel near Kakdwip in South 24 Parganas of West Bengal on Tuesday morning.

The vessel, Swasthya Sathi, was ferrying around 400 pilgrims from Ganga Sagar Mela at Sagar Island to Kakdwip when it ran aground in Muriganga river due to extremely poor visibility, according to an ICG official.

Getting a message from the District Magistrate (South 24 Parganas), the ICG immediately dispatched two Air Cushion Vehicles (Hovercrafts) from Haldia in East Midnapore and Sagar island to provide assistance.

The two hovercrafts evacuated 182 pilgrims before guiding the boat with the remaining pilgrims to a safe destination. Later chief minister Mamata Banerjee said, “A problem surfaced in a vessel. We sorted it out quickly.”

She added, “So far, the footfall of pilgrims has crossed 1.10 crores. Still, there are around 27,000 pilgrims who want to visit the area. We will help them in return. We do not know magic. But hard work and monitoring have no alternative.”