KOCHI:When different units of Navy, Army and Indian Air Force (IAF) were into rescue and relief operations, a team of senior Ministry of Defence (MoD) officers was busy charting the most important operation at Aluva, constantly monitoring the rising waters of Periyar inch-by-inch.
It would have been one of the biggest evacuation missions of the MoD in Kerala. But luckily things remained under control as gushing waters from Periyar did not enter the main campus of Naval Armament Depot (NAD), at Aluva, one of Indian Navy’s major arms depots in the country.Though a few local residents claimed water had entered the NAD campus, affecting its operation for a couple of days between August 16 and August 20, the MoD officers denied it.
“Water didn’t enter the NAD main campus even though a few staff quarters and adjacent roads were affected” said an officer.Right from day one, when water level in Periyar and its tributaries started to rise following the opening of dam shutters, senior officers of Southern Naval Command were monitoring the situation putting a Naval unit in standby for shifting large cache of arms and staff to safety.Three platoons of Defence Security Corps were put on alert from August 9. Though the junction in front of the NAD at Mannali Mukku was flooded, it did not affect its campus.