How India’s army, air force, navy, ITBP and others are saving lives in Uttarakhand

According to an IANS report, Indian Army personnel along with the Engineer Task Force opened the mouth of the tunnel at Tapovan in the flood-affected Uttarakhand’s Joshimath as rescue operations continued more than 24 hours after the disaster hit. A senior Indian Army official said: “Rescue work continued throughout the night with earth movers by installing generators and searchlights.”

Indian Air Force helicopter sorties were carried out for insertion of rescue teams before first light. “Reconnaissance of higher reaches were also made to detect any avalanche threat,” said a senior officer. Indian Air Force yesterday launched the second wave of Mi-17 and Chinook helicopters from Dehradun for Joshimath with the rescue and relief teams on board. “The second wave of Mi-17 and Chinook helicopters has been launched from Dehradun for Joshimath with rescue and relief teams on board. IAF Task Force Commander is coordinating with state authorities for ongoing Humanitarian Assistance & Disaster Relief (HADR) efforts,” said Indian Air Force

Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) rescued several people from an underground tunnel in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district on Monday evening. According to officials, they remained stuck there for about seven hours, from around 10 am to 5 pm, till the last man was evacuated by rescuers. They are now being treated at an ITBP hospital in Joshimath, about 25 km from the incident spot. This is also the base of the ITBP’s Battalion No. 1, tasked with guarding the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China that runs along the state.

The border force began air-dropping food packets on Monday in at least nine villages that have been cut off due to the floods. “Beyond the Raini bridge (which was swept away by the floods), there are nine villages and choppers are dropping food packets after picking them up from our base in Joshimath,” ITBP spokesperson Vivek Kumar Pandey said in Delhi.

Indian Navy’s MARCOS teams, 16 personnel at New Delhi and 40 at Mumbai are ready for deployment, the Indian Army tweeted on February 7. In 2013 as well, these elite commandos were airlifted to Kedarnath to search for missing people after a devastating flood wreaked havoc. (Representative Image)With Thanks -The Hindu

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