The Indian Navy mounted a massive air and sea rescue mission on Tuesday for 79 oil workers and crew whose barge sank in heavy seas following a powerful cyclone that tore up the west coast killing at least 29 people.

Around 182 of those on board the barge, which sank off the coast of Mumbai, were rescued from the huge waves, the navy said.

Cyclone Tauktae, the most powerful storm to batter the west coast in two decades, ripped out power pylons, trees and caused house collapses killing at least 29 people, authorities said.

It has piled pressure on Indian authorities as they grapple with a massive rise in coronavirus infections and deaths as well as a shortage of beds and oxygen in hospitals.