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IAF choppers fly people to safety in disaster-hit Himachal
The state government had sought IAF’s help in carrying ration and medicines to the people stranded in remote villages of Thunag and Bali Chowki sub-divisions after the road connectivity was severed due to landslides
Aiding the relief efforts in rain-battered Himachal Pradesh, the Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters delivered food and medicines to far-flung areas of Mandi district in a three-day operation from August 24 to 26.
The state government had sought IAF’s help in carrying ration and medicines to the people stranded in remote villages of Thunag and Bali Chowki sub-divisions after the road connectivity was severed due to landslides triggered by heavy rains on August 22 and 23.
“IAF continues to provide relief in flood hit regions of Himachal Pradesh. More than 11,000 kg of relief material was air distributed in far flung areas and four patients have been evacuated,” the Western Air Command wrote on micro-blogging site X (formerly Twitter).
IAF helicopters also airlifted four patients from Kullu to Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh. Two pregnant women were also airlifted from Mandi.
Mandi deputy commissioner Arindam Chaudhary said that essential supplies were airdropped in following instructions from chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu.
“The IAF helicopters took more than a dozen sorties over three days,” he added.
The helicopter could take a single sortie on the first day of the operation. The helicopter carrying supplies for Kashauridhar was diverted to Karthach due to unfavourable weather.
About eight sorties were made on second day and five on third day to disaster-hit villages in Kashaud, Bhatkidhar and Oardhar.
During the operation, IAF helicopters delivered more than 1,000 ration kits, comprising rice, pulses, flour and spices. Over three dozen boxes of essential medicines were delivered along with tarpaulins, blankets and clothes.
Four patients, two pregnant women airlifted
The IAF helicopters also airlifted four critically ill patients from Kullu to PGIMER, Chandigarh, on August 24.
Kullu sub-divisional magistrate Vikash Shukla said that the patients, two of them women, belonged to Kullu, Mandi and Lahaul-Spiti districts.
He added that they had to be airlifted as all the roads connecting Kullu, including the Kiratpur-Manali highway, were blocked. An IAF helicopter airlifted two pregnant women to Mandi.
“The two women had taken shelter at Nagwain relief camp after their houses were damaged. They were airlifted from Bhuntar Airport on August 26. They were provided healthcare at Mandi Zonal Hospital,” said Mandi DC.
In a five-day operation from August 16, IAF had helicopters rescued more than 800 stranded persons after excess water released from Pong Dam flooded downstream areas in Indora and Fatehpur sub-divisions of Kangra district.
