Mishaps continuous feature in Navy, MoD must take onus: Standing Committee

The Standing Committee on Defence said accidents are a continuous feature in the navy and the Ministry of Defence must take onus for this.

The Indian Navy witnessed 62 mishaps between 2007 and 2017 and 177 officers were found guilty during inquiries ordered into the incidents, the committee said in its report tabled in the Lok Sabha.

The panel observed that "accidents are a continuous feature in the Navy and the Ministry of Defence must take onus for this as either poor quality procurement or improper maintenance or inadequate training is responsible for occurrence of frequent accidents".

"It is needless to say that all possible measures should be taken to check occurrence of accidents in the service. To ensure this, everything from right procurement, right maintenance, right training and right execution needs to be done. In case an accident takes place, appropriate penalty and punishment need to be meted out, if mishap is found to be on account of deficiencies in maintenance," the panel observed.

Among the accidents it listed were the explosion on board INS Sindhurakshak, a Kilo-class submarine of the Indian Navy, on August 14, 2013 in which 18 crewmen were killed and the February 2015 collision between INS Sindhugosh and a fishing trawler off the coast of Mumbai.