An Army man drops relief material Sunday at Chengannur, Kerala. (AP Photo)
Rescue operations in flood-hit Kerala are nearly complete and efforts are now being aimed at relief and rehabilitation as the situation is improving, Vice Admiral Girish Luthra said on Monday. Floods triggered by heavy rainfall have wreaked havoc in the state, claiming over 200 lives since August 8 and rendering over 7 lakh people homeless.
“As far as the Navy is concerned, we have stepped up our efforts especially in the last four-five days and today, as you know, the effort is moving more towards providing relief and subsequently towards rehabilitation,” PTI quoted Luthra, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief (FOC-in-C) of the Western Naval Command (WNC), as saying.
The Vice Admiral further said even though the initial part of rescue operations were completed, there were still a number of people trapped in remote locations. “The initial part of rescue has been more or less completed, although a few people may be trapped in different areas. We will be reaching to them and making sure that they are also taken to safe locations,” he said.
Luthra said that the rescue operations, which started around two weeks ago, were being coordinated from Delhi. “As far as the defence forces are concerned, it is coordinated by the Defence Crisis Management Group and at the national-level too it is (being) coordinated by the National Crisis Management Group,” he said.
He expressed hope that the situation would come under control soon as various agencies, the Central and state governments and a large number of NGOs and individuals were working to help the distressed.
Luthra was in Delhi to attend the ceremony for affiliation of Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry (JAKLI) regiment with INS Kochi and 51 Squadron Air Force. The ceremony was held at the JAKLI Regimental Centre at Rangreth, on the outskirts of Srinagar. “It is a very historic day. Today, a frontline ship of the Indian Navy — INS Kochi — has been affiliated with JAKLI. It is for the first time that we are doing this affiliation between the naval unit and an Army regiment outside a naval base,” the FOC-in-C said.
“We will have personnel from JALKI visiting our ships and also sailing our ships and similarly, our personnel from INS Kochi will visit their various locations, including off-locations, and learn about the functioning of various battalions of JAKLI, he added. “This will promote better understanding and better synergy between our two services,” he said.
(With PTI inputs)