New Delhi, 01 August (HS): On Thursday, the third day of the Wayanad landslide, the Army built a 100 feet long bridge overnight and opened it to the public to safely rescue the affected people. This will help further in rescue operations and the trapped people can be evacuated as quickly as possible. Apart from this, preparations are underway to build many more small bridges. The Army has recovered more than 100 bodies till this morning, while the death toll is much higher than this. Air Force helicopters have airlifted a large number of people from the affected areas and taken them to safe places.
Brig. Arjun Segan, Commandant of Para Regimental Training Center, said that today is the third day of the rescue and search operation. We built a footbridge overnight and we hope that we will complete the work of Bailey bridge of 24 ton weight category by this afternoon. Our engineers worked all night. We sent 5 earth moving equipment yesterday and today also we have sent many earth moving equipment. This has made our search operation very easy. Despite facing the challenges of bad weather, rising water level and working overnight, with perseverance and tireless work, the team of Madras Engineers Group (MEG) built a 100 feet long bridge overnight in Choorlamalai and opened it to the public. This will further help in rescue operations and the trapped people can be evacuated as quickly as possible.
Soldiers of the 122 Infantry Battalion of the Territorial Army from the Western Hill Barracks of the Army, Calicut, have launched a search and rescue operation from Vellarimala to Attamala from the severely landslide affected areas. Major General VT Mathew, General Officer Commanding, Karnataka and Kerala Sub Area, has reached Mappady village in Wayanad district and taken command of the rescue operation. He met Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan and Chief Minister P. Vijayan and informed them about the ongoing rescue operations. Major General Mathew said that Indian Army troops are working in coordination with other rescue teams in Attamala, Mundakkai and Choorlamalla. Till this morning, we have recovered more than 100 bodies and the total number of bodies is much more than this. The recovered bodies have been handed over to the civil administration, which are being taken to safe places for further action.
He said that we have rescued many people who needed help, almost all of them have been rescued and now we have to enter the houses and see if people are trapped, for this we need heavy equipment. After the construction of a bridge is completed by 10 pm today, we will be able to bring heavy equipment to the site, after which the search for people will begin. We are building the bridge day and night, it is going to be completed today. This will increase the speed of this search and rescue operation and we will also use our dog squad. Currently more than 500 army personnel are on the job.
After the devastating landslide in Wayanad, Kerala, the Indian Air Force has been carrying out rescue and relief operations in coordination with other agencies like NDRF and the state administration. Air Force transport aircraft have played an important role in the evacuation operations along with supplying vital logistics. Transport aircraft C-17 has transported 53 metric tonnes of essential supplies such as Bailey bridge, dog squad, medical aid and other necessary equipment for rescue relief operations. In addition, AN-32 and C-130 are being used to transport relief material and personnel. Challenging weather is hampering the flying of aircraft, but these Air Force aircraft have transported rescue teams and evacuation teams to the disaster area.
Air Force Wing Commander Jaideep Singh said that the Air Force has deployed a fleet of various helicopters for rescue operations. MI-17 and Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH) have been inducted for HADR operations. Despite widespread bad weather conditions, Indian Air Force aircraft are engaged in evacuating stranded people to the nearest medical facilities and safe areas and supplying essential goods till late evening of 31 July. As part of the rescue operation, these helicopters have airlifted a large number of people from the affected areas and taken them to safer places.
Hindusthan Samachar / Indrani Sarkar / Manoj Kumar Tayal