The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Sunday, January 28, 2001,
Chandigarh, India

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Biggest relief operation
From Girja Shankar Kaura and S. Satyanarayanan
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Jan 27 — The armed forces and the para-military forces have launched the biggest relief operation in the history of independent India with all the three Services and almost all the para-military organisations having been pressed into service to provide relief material to the injured in the disaster hit Gujarat.

While the Air Force Station in the forward region of Bhuj in the Rann of Kutch area is presently the only link between that worst hit district of Gujarat and the rest of the world, the Army and the Navy have rushed engineers and medical teams besides deploying troops to carry out the rescue and relief operations.

The Air Force Station at Bhuj has become the crucial link for providing relief material to the victims in the Rann of Kutch region and despite facing casualties the Air Force personnel are working round-the-clock to ensure that not only relief reaches the affected but the injured are airlifted to hospitals located in other parts of the state.

Although there is still no exact figure available of the civil casualties in Bhuj, as many as 150 Air Force personnel and their family members have perished in the worst quake which hit the country yesterday. All the personnel and their family members killed were staying in civilian areas outside the Air Force Station.

As per reports the Indian Air Force (IAF) has pressed into service 42 aircraft which are landing and taking off from the Bhuj station after every few minutes. The Army has besides pressing more troops into service has also set up a V. Sat link between Delhi and Ahmedabad in addition to two HF communication detachments already functional in the quake-hit areas.

The Navy has diverted three ships to the region. While one ship was already off Kandla port, the other two ships were en route, the sources said adding the vessels were equipped with helicopters to assist the Gujarat government in dropping food and other relief material to those affected by the earthquake.

Sources in the Air Force said Bhuj being totally cut off from the world either by road or by rail only IAF aircraft were in operation to airlift the injured out of the area. This specially as the local hospital in Bhuj has already been over-flooded with victims.

Despite the main radar station building also being affected, the Air Force has been carrying on operations. Reports said with the main runway in the station having borne the onslaught of the quake without any damage the operations were being carried out without a break.

Defence Minister George Fernandes and the Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal A.Y. Tipnis, have also reached Bhuj to personally oversee the operations. On the other hand the GOC-in-C, Southern Command N.C. Vij has also reached this worst affected region. Regional control rooms have been established at Bhuj and Ahmedabad under the overall command of a Major-General each.

With the additional relief material rushed today, the strength of army personnel assisting the civil administration in rescue and relief operations has gone up to 3500 in Bhuj and 1200 in Ahmedabad.

Meanwhile, 23 companies of the Central para-military forces, including five of the Rapid Action Force (RAF), 10 of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), six SSB and one each of the Border Security Force (BSF) and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) have been airlifted by a special aircraft to assist in the operations in the state.

They are carrying with them tents, blankets and food material. A special team of the CISF has been rushed also to Kandla Port to set up a special wireless communication network in the wake of devastated communication system.

The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) has also despatched two plane-loads of relief supplies to Ahmedabad including 4,000 blankets, 500 tents, one tonne of dried cooked food and relief supplies by UN aid agencies.

Director-General of ITBP Gautam Kaul said more relief supplies were being mobilised by the Force to be airlifted to identified disaster-struck areas.

The Army said its surgical and medical teams with mobile operation theatre facilities had reached Bhuj. Four surgical teams from Pune, one field ambulance from Bathinda and another from Ahmedabad had begun providing medical cover to the quake victims in Bhuj.

Heavy duty engineering equipment flown from Pune, Chandigarh, Jodhpur and Bathinda including trench digging, earth moving, heavy weight lifting equipment, air compressors, generating sets and water supply equipment had also been put into operation.

In special arrangements for the treatment of the injured, 90 beds had been provided at the Military Hospital at Bhuj, 250 beds at the MH in Ahmedbad and also at Jamnagar.

Preventive medical teams had also been entrusted the responsibility of epidemic control measures.

Six hundred tents, 1,000 tarpaulins and 2,000 blankets had been sent for the quake victims.

The relief supplies that have been airlifted to Bhuj by the Indian Air Force include engineering load, mobile kitchens, tentage, food, blankets, medical supplies, civil doctors and para medics. Heavy engineering equipment of the Army have been airlifted from Bathinda and Pune. CISF personnel, tentages from ITBP, Air Force generator sets, food and portable water, blankets, medical volunteers including doctors from government hospitals and IAF doctors were airlifted from Delhi last evening to Bhuj.

In addition, medical stores, paramedics and doctors were airlifted from Mumbai. Army tentage, Air Force hospital personnel from Kanpur was airlifted to Jamnagar. Air Force tentage from Chennai, generators and blankets from Chandigarh, Bulldozer from Vadodara and two company of CISF personnel from Ahmedabad were airlifted to Bhuj.

The heavy lift MI-26 helicopter is being pressed into service for carrying 50,000 blankets from Chandigarh and Amritsar to the victims of the earthquake. Medium lift MI-8 and MI-17 helicopter are being flown to airdrop food and relief material to far-flung areas, which have no access, by road or rail. Fifteen medium lift Mi-17 and Mi-8 and two heavy lift MI-26 helicopters are carrying out relief operations from dawn to dusk. In addition 15 Chetak class helicopters have been put on standby to undertake relief & rescue operation.

The casualties at the Air Force Station, Bhuj, is being ascertained as some of the personnel were living outside the Air Force Campus under their own arrangements. The injured people from Bhuj are being flown out to various hospitals for immediate medical care by the Indian Air Force aircraft.

To supervise the rescue and relief operations, the Border Security Force (BSF) Director General Gurbachan Singh Jagat rushed to Ahmedabad, Bhuj and Gandhidham by a special flight this evening.

The BSF will also set up one medical camp each in Ahmedabad, Bhuj and Gandhidam to help the Gujarat administration to extend medical assistance to the injured people.

A squad of sniffer dogs is expected to arrive in Ahmedabad late tonight from Switzerland to assist in extricating victims trapped under the debris caused by the earthquake.

The specially trained dogs have been offered by the Swiss government, Agriculture Secretary Bhaskar Baruah said.

The USA, Germany, Japan, Russia and Turkey are among the other countries who have offered help. The International Council of Red Cross is sending 30,000 blankets to the quake affected areas.

The CRPF has deployed three Rapid Action Force (RAF) and one CRPF companies in the worst quake-affected areas of Ahmedabad city and one RAF company has been sent to worst affected areas of Bhuj district.

Besides, a CRPF medical team under the leadership of two medical officers has been deployed in Ahmedabad city to render medical care to the quake-hit persons. The Gandhinagar GC Hospital has been kept open for admission of the injured.

Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has dispatched a rescue team headed by DIG (Fire) with rescue tools and essential relief materials, medicines, dry ration, HF communication sets to Bhuj.