Be it war or calamity, the Garuds swoop in

Members of Garud, the IAF special forces team which took part in the Theni operation, put up a small demonstration at the Shanghumugham beach. The event was organised as part of ‘Samvedna,’ the joint air exercise by the air forces of India, UAE, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: When the forest fire raged through the Kurangani region near Theni earlier this week, an Air Force team scrambled from the Sulur Airbase to launch search and rescue operations. They fought hard to douse the fire and were successful in extricating many of the hapless trekkers trapped inside the forest.

On Thursday afternoon, members of Garud, the IAF special forces team which took part in the Theni operation, put up a small demonstration at the Shanghumugham beach to show how fire fighting is done using helicopters. The event was organised as part of ‘Samvedna,’ the joint air exercise by the air forces of India, UAE, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Ever heard of the ‘bambi bucket?’ It’s the name for the helicopter bucket that is used to collect water and spray it over the burning region. The Garud team, flying in a Mi-17 V-5 helicopter, used the bottom-open ‘bambi bucket’ - hanging at the end of a long cable - collected water from the sea and demonstrated how it is useful is spraying water with precision over a specific area.

“The bucket has a capacity of 4,900 litres. We are trained for war. But we are also equipped to handle relief operations. During the Ockhi disaster we had rescued around 20 fishermen,” Wing Commander B Prasanth, Commanding Officer, Garud Commandos, said.

The Air Force team demonstrated how a drowning man is rescued. A commando was winched down to the floundering man and he was hauled up using a harness. Again, the crew demonstrated how food packets are released from helicopters when there is little opportunity to land the machine.  Comprising ground training and flying exercises over five days, Samvedna is billed as the first Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) exercise in the South Asian region.

“Forces from the different nations share notes as part of the exercise. The exercise began on March 12 and on the first two days involved table-top exercises. Thursday and Friday have practical demos,” Group Captain S Ramaswamy, Commanding Officer, Air Force Station, Shangumugham. “Basically, Samvedna is aimed at ensuring that forces of various nations are on the same frequency when HADR operations are called for,” he said. The exercise will conclude on Saturday.