India ramps up relief and rescue ops in Nepal

India has been sending large consignments of relief materials to the quake-hit Himalayan nation, where an estimated 10,000 people have died.

Three days after the first high-magnitude tremor was felt last Saturday, the Indian Army has set up a 45-bed hospital near Kathmandu. The Army’s medical teams – 18 of them – have already started running three field hospitals in Kathmandu, Pokhara and one in an area close to these towns.

The Army began its rescue and relief efforts within hours after the massive quake shook Nepal. An IAF C-130 J Super Hercules aircraft flew to Kathmandu from Bhatinda, with 39 National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) men and 3.9 tonnes of cargo, comprising emergency supplies. The aircraft returned with 55 Indians rescued from the Nepalese capital the same (Saturday) night.

On Saturday, one Ilyushin-76 aircraft also inducted an NDRF team and another IL-76 flew with 163 NDRF personnel, five sniffer dogs and 28 tonnes of cargo. It rescued 152 people, including children. IAF’s newest aircraft, C-17 Globemaster III, also flew the same day with medical supplies. It returned on Sunday morning with 237 people from the quake-hit country. Another C-17 flew with 96 NDRF men and 15 tonnes of cargo, which rescued 102 people and a baby.

The Army sent 10 flights to Kathmandu on Sunday, with engineering task forces, water, food, NDRF teams, medical personnel and equipment, besides blankets and tents. On Sunday, helicopters were diverted to remote areas of Nepal, which could not have been accessed by road. Five Mi-17 choppers were pressed into service. A C-17, flying from Hindon, also took another engineering task force from the Hindon Air Base. On Sunday, the government decided to name the rescue and relief work in the Himalayan nation as ‘Operation Maitri’.  The weekend was not easy as aftershocks, measuring 6+ on the Richter scale, were felt in Nepal. 

The Army’s Everest expedition team that was acclimatising at Khumbu began attending to the avalanche-hit explorers as soon as the effect of the first quake had abated last Saturday. The doctor attached to the team has attended to eight head injury cases and stabilised about 60 climbers.

On Monday, the Army recovered bodies of 19 explorers from the Everest base camp and rescued 50 injured mountaineers. One Mi-17V5 rescued six climbers and took them to Dhuncha where a helipad had been prepared. The operations continued through Monday night and 203 people were evacuated. Meanwhile, the flights for the IAF aircrafts and helicopters were re-scheduled for low density times to avoid the congestion at the airport.