Cyclone Phailin Rescue & Relief Operations Updates

Defence Forces Remain Ready for Flood Relief in Eastern States

As the Cyclone Phailin entered into the second day after its landfall, heavy rains were experienced in Odisha, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, Bihar and West Bengal as anticipated. The Defence Forces, fully geared up to meet with this contingency, immediately pressed four Medium Lift helicopters into service to extricate the marooned local population as well as to drop food packages and relief materials in Balasore. The composite Army columns comprising Engineer and Infantry elements have also relocated and moved towards Balasore, Ganjam and Jamshedpur to assist the State Governments in flood relief operations. The Navy has moved two aircrafts from Kochi to Bhubaneswar carrying rations and also moved 12 Tons of rations from Visakhapatnam to Behrampur. The Coast Guard aircraft and helicopters are patrolling the Coast regularly and their four patrol vessels are on standby. The Medical teams of the three Services and Coast Guard which have been deployed are providing medical assistance to the local population. The Overall Force Commander at Bhubaneswar along with his Task Force Commanders for the Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard are in constant liaison with the State Governments. Necessary coordination on allocation of resources is being carried out at the Defence Crisis Management Group (DCMG) at Delhi. The representatives of the State Governments, NDMA and NDRF who are attending the DCMG meetings are giving regular updates. This is facilitating the decision making body to coordinate the operations without any loss of time. The focus having shifted from response to the disaster mitigation of Cyclone to flood relief, the Defence Forces remain ready to assist the State Governments in restoring normalcy. ******************************* IAF Rapid Action Medical Team in has Baptism in Odisha  A 37-member Indian Air Force (IAF) Rapid Action Medical Team (RAMT) comprising three doctors including a surgeon, anaesthetist and a lady medical officer accompanied by two nursing officers and other paramedics from Jorhat, in Assam, was among the first IAF element to be positioned in Odisha, to deal with medical emergencies post arrival of Cyclone Phailin. The team was stationed in Behrampur University campus, which was expected to bear the brunt of the cyclone onslaught. For the members of the RAMT, the surreal experience of being in the middle of a storm was also their baptism with emergency situations that will remain their hallmark for operations in future. "We had braced ourselves for the worst," Sqn Ldr Lovneet Kaur, the lady doctor who heads the No. 2 RAMT reveals. "Thankfully, the stormy night did not rip our roof away although the doors and windows gave away flooding our rooms," she bravely recalls. "We treated about 30 patients mostly children and women who were injured as a result of either a fall or hit by flying debris during the storm," surgical specialist, Wg Cdr SV Kulkarni, attached from an Air Force Hospital for the mission, said. The IAF had raised three RAMT units at Bangalore, Jorhat and Hindan in 1999, to provide immediate and organised medical and surgical aid in the event of a disaster within their respective zones of responsibility. The RAMT aids the central or state administration in the event of any occurrence of disaster. Keeping in view the serious medical needs of cyclone affected people of Puri and Cuttack districts, the Air Force RAMT team has since been moved from Behrampur to Bhubneswar. TK Singha from Bhubaneswar ****************** IAF Helicopters Pressed into Rescue and Relief Efforts The Indian Air Force (IAF) today, launched four Mi-17 V5 helicopters from Barrackpore, an Eastern Air Command (EAC) airbase, towards relief and rescue operations in areas adjoining Balasore and Chandipur in Odisha, affected by floods following torrential overnight rains. The areas affected include Remuna, Dharampur and Badapal. Nearly 15,000 food packets provided by the State administration were dropped in these areas. A total of 5.5 tonnes of load was dropped in four sorties. Indian Navy divers were also additionally flown by the Mi-17 V5 helicopters for rescue efforts in areas badly inundated by water. The navy divers were airlifted to some of the worst affected areas north of Balasore and Chandipur. The army has also mobilised a column at Balasore for similar efforts. Another army engineering task force operating from Gopalpur also proceeded towards Pithal village in Chattrapur, in the early hours on Monday, about 100 kms west of Ganjam, for relief work. TK Singha from Bhubaneswar Courtesy: Press Information Bureau (pib.nic.in)