Cyclone Ockhi : Indian Navy rescues over 220 lives till Sunday

New Delhi: Indian Navy's search and rescue operations rescued 220 lives till Sunday from Southeast Arabian Sea and Lakshadweep and Minicoy islands in the aftermath of cyclonic storm 'OCKHI'.

The navy and the coast guards also launched full-fledged rescue operations and deployed IN Ships Sagardhwani, Jamuna, Nireekshak, Kabra and Kalpeni off the Kerala coast and Sharda , Shardul towards Lakshadweep islands.

According to Indian Navy, "Besides this three air craft viz, Dornier (Do) fixed wing aircraft, Sea-king Helicopter (SK) and Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) were also deployed throughout the day."

A total of 84 people have been rescued since Friday— 62 by aircrafts and 22 by ships. Of the 62 people 8 were transferred to Kochi in batches of 04 after being picked up 20 Nautical miles southwest and 80 nautical miles west of Kochi respectively, navy also mentioned. INS Sagardhwani picked up two dead bodies and transferred to Thiruvananthapuram.

On the other side, INS Shardul from Kochi headed towards Minicoy islands with Humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) "bricks", which includes water, dry provisions, medical equipment, blankets, diving team, generators, salvage equipment, desalination and decontamination kits, diving team and has a Chetak helicopter embarked, a release by the Indian Navy mentioned.

The relief material would sustain 2000 persons for over a period of seven days. "INS Sharda is heading towards Kavaratti islands with HADR material sufficient to last for more than seven days for 500 people. The ship while proceeding to the islands, saved nine lives from a capsized boat in distress enroute," it added further.

Naval ships from Mumbai, INS Chennai, Kolkata and Trikand also sailed out from Mumbai for Lakshadweep and Minicoy (LAM) islands with HADR material sufficient for approximately 5000 persons and would last for more than seven days.

Androth and Kavaratti are reported to be experiencing strong winds of 40-60 knots coupled high swells of 3-4 metres with a sea state of 5-6. All the ships are expected to reach LAM by Monday morning. "Meanwhile, the aircraft from Kochi, the P8I aircraft from Arakkonam with greater reach is being used to maintaining a close vigil continuously over the sailing ships and provide inputs if any. The areas close to coast would continuously being monitored by using DO aircraft from Kochi," Indian Navy also mentioned.