Kochi, Aug 19 : Southern Naval Command (SNC) continued their ‘’Operation Madad’’on the 11th day on Sunday and rescued more than 15,000 people, who are stranded in various parts of Kerala due to flash flood.
At an even greater tempo, to meet the increasing requests for relief and rescue from the affected areas of the state, the SNC rescue teams had been augmented by Gemini boats, divers and other resources from both Eastern and Western Naval Commands of the India Navy.
The total number of diving teams deployed were 92, which have been sent to multiple locations across the affected districts. Twenty newly inducted teams were put into action today, to augment those already in place. Rescue operations were extended to two more districts of Kannur and Alappuzha, in addition to the three districts already covered like Thrissur, Ernakulam and Pathanamthitta.
A total of 14,797 people have been rescued by boats, over 609 people airlifted to safety and relief material worth 800 kg air dropped till date, a defence release said here on Sunday.
A total of 48 rescue teams with one Gemini boat each are deployed in Ernakulam district at various places. One team is at Pizhala island, one at Edapally, seven at Perumbavur, 16 at North Paravur, 10 at Aluva, four at Muvattupuzha, seven at Kadangallur and two at Athani. About 250 persons located at Moolamvelli Church were shifted in civil boats to a safe place by the rescue team at Pizhala island.
As water levels started to recede, the rescue team expanded the area of operations to include eight nearby islands. The rescue efforts in the district have expanded to include Athani near Nedumbassery.
In Thrissur district, the deployment at Chalakkudy has been reduced to seven teams and another three teams are deployed at Mala. In Pathanamthitta district, ten teams are deployed at Chengannur, 17 at Thiruvalla, and one team each at Ayroor and Pullad.
Meanwhile, the deployment of teams at Wayanad district was called off as the situation improved and the teams were diverted to other more critical locations. One rescue team is positioned at Kannur and 19 teams are in Alappuzha district.
In addition, all air assets available at INS Garuda have been extensively utilised for winching up stranded personnel, transfer of stores, boats, and provision of relief material – especially food and water. Air rescue has been carried out at various places in all four districts like Thrissur, Ernakulam, Alappuzha and Pathanamthitta. Various aircrafts including ALH, Sea King, Chetak and MI 17 (of IAF) were able to rescue more than 59 people today.
Relief material consisting of over a lakh food packets, along with bottled water and medicines, were also airdropped on the roof tops of various houses/ churches. Ten woman in advanced stages of pregnancy were also airlifted to safety.
The Naval Air Station, Garuda has facilitated the undertaking civil aviation operations from Naval Base, Kochi. An interaction at Garuda chaired by Joint DGCA and attended by CIAL APD, CISF and representatives of various airlines was held to review the airfield facilities available and the layout of arrival departure plans, it added.
The torrent of water unleashed in a deadly Laos dam collapse has drained into Cambodia, forcing thousands to evacuate, as rescuers on Thursday battled monsoon rains to find scores of Laotians still missing after entire villages were washed away.
Twenty-seven people have been confirmed dead, with 131 still missing, after the Xe-Namnoy dam collapsed on Monday in a remote southern corner of Laos, leaving villagers with little time to escape.
It is an unprecedented accident to strike the hydropower industry in Laos, where the Communist government has dammed large sections of its myriad waterways to generate electricity that is mostly sold to its neighbours.
The search and rescue effort entered a third day Thursday, with China, Vietnam and Thailand sending in specialists, while villagers picked through their wrecked, mud-caked homes for possessions as the flood waters receded.
Carcasses of livestock floated in the knee-deep waters in a devastated village visited by AFP, as heavy rain pounded the area.
Thousands of villagers downstream in Cambodia have also been forced to flee as the water once held back by the dam flowed south.
“Water is still rising, so more people will be evacuated,” Men Kong, a government spokesman in Cambodia’s Stung Streng province, told AFP.
Cambodian soldiers ferried villagers and motorbikes from flooded zones on wooden boats, while supplies were handed out to some who found refuge on dry land.
In Laos, Chinese rescuers in life jackets and helmets joined local soldiers searching for the missing Thursday, according to an AFP reporter at the scene, while community volunteers pitched in with private boats to return to villages still submerged.
Bhubaneswar, Jul 26: More than three lakh people in 20 districts of Odisha have been affected, while at least 20 people died due to heavy rains and flood in the state.
Sources in the Special Relief Commissioner’s (SRC) office said a total of 20 people died during two spells of rains and subsequent floods.
While five people died due to heavy to very rains, 15 others reportedly died in flood-related incidents.
The district administrations are verifying whether the deaths were due to floods, deputy SRC Pravat Ranjan Mohapatra said, adding, that four people were reported to have been killed in Kalahandi district.
A preliminary assessment indicated that 8,286 houses have been partially or fully damaged in the deluge that lasted for around four days, beginning on July 20.
While the first spell of rain continued for two days on July 15 and 16, the second one caused more damage from July 20 to July 23. The maximum damage due to rains and floods was reported on July 21 and July 22, they said.
Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) B P Sethi stated that the district authorities have been asked to complete the assessment of damages to private properties in two weeks and furnish a report for allotment of funds in the affected areas.
The situation has, however, changed for better in the past two days in the rain-affected districts and all people living in relief shelters have left for their houses today, officials said.
Sources in the Meteorological department today said the state recorded just 1.4 mm average rainfall in the past 24 hours.
Aizawl, Jun 5 : Ten people were killed and another injured when a building was swept away by a landslide triggered by heavy rains in the Lunglawn area of south Mizoram’s Lunglei town, police said today.
It was raining heavily last night in the Lunglawn area when the landslide hit the building killing 10 people, they said.
The Lunglei District Disaster Response Team and local volunteers rushed to the spot to rescue people, police said.