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The monsoons, set in with great fury along the western coastline, and in the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat. The sudden and incessant deluge of rains caused a serious flood situation in Gujarat by July 1, 2005. Thereafter, the rains struck the central parts of the country, especially Madhya Pradesh and neighbouring districts of Uttar Pradesh, rendering large areas inundated with floods, by first week of July 2005.
In view of the grim situation, the civil administration requisitioned Army and Air Force assistance for immediate rescue and relief operations in the flood affected areas. In keeping with its long established ethos of coming to the assistance of States in the hour of need, the Armed Forces responded with promptness and extended all-out support to the civil administration in the affected areas.
Gujarat
During the period June 29 to July 08 2005, Gujarat was lashed with continuous heavy rains, which constituted almost 69 per cent of the average annual rainfall. 20 out of the total 25 districts were affected with floods, of which 07 districts were severely affected, namely, Valsad, Navasari, Surat, Vadodara, Anand, Ahmedabad Rural and Kheda. Approximately, five lakh people, residing in 10,000 villages, suffered the fury of the floods. The devastating floods left 202 persons dead and a vast number homeless. Road and rail traffic was severely disrupted, especially the Mumbai-Ahmedabad links.
In view of the extremely precarious situation, Army columns were activated on a war footing on June 30/July 01 2005. A total of 09 columns, along with 08 engineer task forces and 10 medical teams, were pressed into service for rescue and relief operations in the districts of Vadodra, Anand and Kheda. Since powered boats are the most critical requirement for such operations, 54 boats were airlifted in one night from Pune and Bangalore to Ahmedabad and Vadodara with the assistance of Indian Air Force almost in a warlike operation. This enabled the columns to be equipped with a total of 80 boats, thus facilitating effective rescue operations.
The Army task forces were instrumental in reaching out to a number of remote villages/localities and rescuing marooned villagers or trapped persons. More than 5000 persons were rescued by the brave jawans, often risking their personal safety. In one such incident, Sapper MN Yadav, a young army engineer, sacrificed his life in Anand District, while trying to rescue some villagers trapped in the fast flowing flood waters, he was swept away in the fast current of floodwater.
Apart from rescue operations, the Army task forces also provided succour to the flood affected people by distributing 2,95,750 packets of food/water, 10,000 packets of dry rations, besides other relief material.
Consequent to the flood waters beginning to ebb by 06/07 July 2005, the focus shifted to medical treatment and prevention of an epidemic outbreak. Army deployed 10 medical teams, which operated alongside the columns, and also established 08 medical camps in the disease prone areas. The Army doctors enforced the requisite preventive measures and treated 1604 patients.
In providing aid to civil power and on requisition of the Gujarat Government, the IAF helicopters were tasked to provide succour and relief to the flood-hit districts of Gujarat. In all, a total of 11 helicopters were pressed into service for the flood relief operations in Gujarat including 5 at Vadodara and 6 at Ahmedabad.
Continuous and intensive relief operations were conducted from July 01, 2005 to July 06, 2005. A total of 149 helicopter sorties were flown carrying a total of 213.795 tonnes of relief load and medicines.
On July 01, 2005, a request was received to supply food to 500 passengers stranded in a marooned train at Dakor and to rescue them. A total of 1.6 tonnes of food was airdropped for the stranded passengers. Winching up of so many persons, from inside the train was not possible and the State Government was advised to send boats to the train.
Rescue of marooned personnel was also undertaken. A total of 29 persons were winched up. These missions involved rescue from the submerged highways, from the rooftops of sunken vehicles. During some of these missions, mobile phones were utilized – both by State Government and helicopter aircrew – to establish communication with the marooned people.
Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh
Incessant heavy rains in the state raised the levels of numerous rivers, resulting in inundation of large areas in the north eastern part of the State. 11 districts, with 415 villages and 06 urban centers, were affected by floods, of which the districts of Damoh and Panna were severely affected. 129 villages were marooned, out of which 07 villages were submerged under water. More than 2.5 lakh people were affected by the floods in the rural areas, which claimed 45 lives.
Army columns were immediately activated on 04 July 2005, to the rescue of the civil populace in the districts of Damoh, Chattarpur, Sagar and Panna in Madhya Pradesh, and in Banda District in Uttar Pradesh. A total of six columns, along with 24 boats and OBMs, were pressed into service. The army men with their boats, were the only hope for the marooned villagers in far flung areas. The brave army jawans worked round the clock, not caring for their safety or comfort, and rescued more than 3,500 persons. Apart from rescue operations, the Army columns distributed 1,950 food and water packets, besides other relief material. Along with the columns. The Army doctors too braved the fury of the floods, and provided medical aid to a large number of the populace in various medical camps.
The IAF helicopters were also tasked to provide urgent relief to the flood-hit districts of Madhya Pradesh. The district of Panna, Damoh, Sagar and Chattarpur were the worst affected causing extensive damage to men and material. In all, 06 helicopters (MI 17 –02 and MI 8 – 04) were utilized for the flood relief operations in Madhya Pradesh that commenced on July 05, 2005 and lasted for a period of seven days.
During the operations the helicopters carried out relief material, drops, supplied medicines, conveyed ministers, doctors and survey teams covering all the affected villages. The IAF helicopters flew a total of 90 hours making 139 sorties, carried 65,440 kgs of relief load and medicines and rescued a total of 126 persons. The IAF operations involved low hover drops and restricted area ops over a wide variety of surfaces and adverse weather conditions. The detachment operated from dawn till late evening hours with high degree of dedication and professionalism ensuring that the needy were looked after.
The Army and Air Force flood-relief operations in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh yet again proved that the Armed Forces are the fore-runner in providing relief and succour to the people affected in any calamity. The Armed Forces played an important role by timely reacting to the catastrophe and rendered extensive aid to the civil population in distress.
*Inputs from Ministry of Defence
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