NEW DELHI: The Indian Navy has deployed a slew of ships and tankers in Chennai to step up the rescue operations apart from opening its base to serve as an alternative airport as part of ‘Operation Madad’, said Navy chief Admiral RK Dhowan.
“We are using innovative methods like carrying out surveys using UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) to identify waterlogged areas and sharing the information with the civil administration to help them in rescue work,” he said.
INS Rajali, the naval base at Arakkonam, around 60 km from Chennai, has been serving as an airport base to supply relief material as well as to fly in National Disaster Response Force teams, Dhowan said.
“Our ships and aircraft are deployed in Tamil Nadu. INS Airawat is deployed. We are distributing food and water,” he said, adding that around 40 tonnes of relief material had been ferried in so far.
A high-level Defence Crisis Management group is in charge of the rescue operations.
The Indian Air Force is using the naval base to fly out stranded passengers.
IAF aircraft airlifted four teams of National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) from Delhi and 10 NDRF teams from Bhubaneswar to Arakkonam, in addition to the four Indian Army Columns airlifted by the transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force on Thursday.
IAF has employed four Medium Lift Helicopter, One Advance Light Helicopter (ALH) and 05 Chetak/Cheetah for the rescue and relief operations.
One helicopter is positioned in Tirupati to aid Andhra Pradesh government, according to IAF officials here.
Meanwhile, the Indian Army has deployed 45 teams for rescue work in Chennai. The Army said it rescued more than 4,000 stranded people. These teams have been operating in the worst hit areas including Tambaram, Mudichur, Kothurpuram, Pallavaram, Thiruneermalai, Urapakkam, Manipakkam, T Nagar and Gudvancheri and also along the areas adjacent to the Adyar River.
Military Hospital at St Thomas Mount has been made operational to offer treatment to flood affected patients, the Army said.
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