The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Monday, January 29, 2001,
Chandigarh, India

THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS

50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS

M A I N N E W S

Relief tempo stepped up
From Girja Shankar Kaura and Gaurav Choudhury
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Jan 28 — The Indian armed forces pulled out all stops to undertake the largest emergency relief operations ever to be undertaken anywhere in the world as the toll in quake-devastated Gujarat continued to rise with no indications of how many days it will take to pull out all those still trapped under the debris.

While the state struggles to come to grips with the worst tragedy ever to hit the country in living memory, the armed and para-military forces remained the only source of succour for the victims.

The three services and para-military forces dispatched to the quake-hit region were working round the clock along with the foreign relief teams which have reached Gujarat to pull out those trapped under the debris of concrete and rubble.

Reports in Delhi said that the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Army had increased its tempo of relief work as every passing hour was only reducing the chances of those trapped under the debris emerging alive. The work was being carried out on a war footing, specially in the worst-hit Bhuj and the adjoining districts of Naliya, Jamnagar and Surat.

The Air Force Station at Bhuj continued to be the only link that the region had with the rest of the world. The road and the rail lines were still not operational and reports said that it would take some days before some repair work could be carried out.

Not only are the IAF aircraft, which are landing and taking off at short intervals, carrying the relief material but are also evacuating the injured to hospitals located in other parts of the state.

Reports reaching Delhi also said that Army engineers were trying hard to restore the supply of electricity in most parts of the state. The work had been undertaken with a view to restore electricity in most parts by late this evening.

They were also working hard to repair the roads, specially in the Bhuj region, where almost everything has been destroyed. The Defence Minister, Mr George Fernandes, had also visited the Bhuj region along with the Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal A.Y. Tipnis, yesterday.

On the other hand, the Navy has stationed two hospital ships-INS Satluj and INS Nirdeshak- off the Kandla port. Field hospitals and ambulances had also been set up to provide medical relief.

Another Navy ship, INS Ganga, capable of carrying 200 persons at a time, will ferry those injured and those who need treatment outside the state. This would help a lot since medical services in Gujarat, especially Bhuj were strained.

The Army has set up a 340-bed field hospital in Bhuj. Four field ambulances are being dispatched to the affected areas. The IAF aircraft have carried out over 100 sorties till this morning since the quake hit Gujarat on Friday morning.

IAF sources said that at least 42 transport aircraft and helicopters, including the world’s biggest chopper MI-26, the 40 tonne capacity, IL-76 `Gajraj’,and AN 32 aircraft, have been pressed into service as part of the biggest ever relief operation ever launched by the Indian armed and civilian agencies.

More than 60 sorties have been carried out by AN-32 transport aircraft alone for transporting civil and defence doctors, tentages, and ITBP and CISF personnel, besides relief material such as blanket, rugs and food packets.

The world’s biggest helicopter, the Mi-26, have also been deployed. While one picked up 10,000 blankets from Chandigarh, another lifted over 40,000 blankets from Amritsar for the people of Bhuj living outside.

The 40-tonne capacity IL-76, called Gajraj, picked up additional heavy engineering load—diesel generators, bulldozers, excavators and cranes—besides mobile kitchens and kitchens from Bathinda, Pune and Jodhpur. It has also carried communication vehicles from Delhi, additional material from Jaiselmer, field ambulances from Chandigarh, heavy engineering equipment from Baroda and excavators and medical supplies from Adampur.

More than 180 critically injured have so far been evacuated to military hospitals in Jamnagar and Pune.

Fourteen additional columns of troops have been deployed over and above 19 columns of engineers who have already been deployed.

Similarly, at Ahmedabad, four additional columns of Army have been deployed. It is in addition to three columns from an Engineer Regiment who have reached Ahmedabad.

As many as 1650 tensets, 4000 blankets, 2000 tarpaulines and 250 special large tents have also been made available by the Army for the earthquake victims.

The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has deployed six companies of the elite Rapid Action Force (RAF) and one more company in the worst quake-affected areas of Gujarat to expedite the rescue and relief operation.

One RAF company has been sent to Anjhar. A CRPF medical team under the leadership of two Medical officers has been deployed in Ahmedabad city to provide medical care to the injured people. The Gandhinagar Group Centre Hospital has been kept open for public.

Air-India will transport relief material urgently required in Gujarat free of cost from its on-line stations worldwide.

The Indian Airlines and Jet Airways are also transporting relief supplies free of charge. The Indian Airlines has since Friday operated special flights from Mumbai and Delhi to Ahmedabad and Jamnagar (Bhuj).

The Jet Airways late yesterday flew relief supplies consisting of medicines and blankets along with medical and paramedical personnel on a special ATR-72 flight from Mumbai to Bhuj. The relief supplies were donated by the Maharashtra Government.

In Mumbai, the Jaslok and Hinduja hospitals had offered to treat the injured free of cost. After the Crisis Management Group meeting this morning the Agriculture Secretary Bhaskar Barua said a total of 750 medical and paramedical personnel from outside Gujarat were working in the quake devastated areas. Nearly 11.5 metric tonnes of medical supplies has been airlifted to the state. One lakh bandages, 70 units of blood and 100 stretchers had been mobilised by the Central Government Health Services.

Over 5,160 rescue personnel were on the job clearing debris, retrieving trapped people and taking injured to hospitals. Already 1.10 lakh metric tonnes of food, including 10,000 tonnes of ready to eat meals, had reached the state. While 36,000 blankets had been distributed, another 92,000 were in the pipeline.

To accommodate those living outdoors, 10,000 tents, each housing up to ten people, had been put up and another 2,450 were reaching soon. Three thousand tonnes of galvanised iron sheets, for shelter, had reached.