Army and Airforce Mount Rescue and Relief Operations in Quake Hit Sikkim on a War Footing

Army and Airforce Mount Rescue and Relief Operations in Quake Hit Sikkim on a War Footing


A day after a powerful earthquake struck Sikkim, the Armed Forces have mobilized rescue and relief operation on a war footing. Two MI-17 helicopters of the IAF carried relief material and National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) to Lachen and Mangan, the interior regions of North Sikkim. Over 5,000 army personnel, including ten columns of army engineers each comprising 15-20 personnel, were pressed into rescue operations immediately after the first tremors were felt at 1811 hours yesterday. Troops stationed in the area have provided shelter to over 1,500 people including 1,000 civilians at Gangtok and 200 civilians at Darjeeling.

Within hours after the earthquake, two C-130J Hercules Aircraft took to the skies last night with 203 NDRF personnel, sniffer dogs, search and rescue teams, medical personnel and carrying 9 tonnes of relief materials including tents, medicines and food stocks, from Air Force Station Hindon to Bagdogra. A team of 20 doctors from the Army Medical Corps (AMC) carrying 200 kg of essential medical supplies flew to Bagdogra from New Delhi this afternoon on board an IAF Avro aircraft. An MI-17 helicopter with medical team and relief equipment also took off from Bagdogra for Gangtok. Another two Cheetah helicopters from Bagdogra carried out aerial recce missions to assess the damage caused by the 6.8 magnitude earthquake with its epicentre on Indo-Nepal border in Sikkim.

Meanwhile, more men and material are being pressed into rescue and relief operations. One IL-76 with 100 volunteers of No.2 NDRF battalion and 8 tonnes of material flew from Chandigarh to Bagdogra this morning. It will come back and make another sortie tonight. To augment the relief operations, two AN-32 aircraft flew from Delhi to Bagdogra early today. Relief efforts are expected to pick momentum after the personnel of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) toiled throughout the night to restore traffic on the National Highway No.31 this afternoon.

Four ALH and Five Cheetah Helicopters are on standby at Sukna Military Station. Two Cheetah and one MI-17 Helicopters also on standby at Bagdogra Airbase. Besides this two Mi-17 Helicopters are kept on standby at Guwahati. They will be operational once the weather improves.

The Armed Forces have also suffered casualties due to the tremors last evening. Two Army personnel died near Zima, North Sikkim while a Junior Engineer of BRO was reported killed during rescue operation.

Sitanshu Kar/
(Release ID :76085)