Chennai is slowly limping towards regaining normalcy, as the flood waters recede. “The Tamil Nadu Government has asked the Indian Air Force (IAF) to conclude its relief operations. Undertaken amidst heavy rains, these operations were carried out over five days, from December 2-6, 2015”, read a government statement of December 8. Conceptually, the military should be called out in aid of civil authorities only when the situation is beyond the capability of the civil administration, be it to maintain law and order or provide assistance in times of natural disaster. In practice, however, it is not the story; either of Services, depending on the nature of the emergency, is the crucial immediate responder in all high intensity disaster situations and forms the core of the government response capacity. If the armed forces, more so the IAF, due to its capability of response, is to undertake every task, then why waste money on the various civil agencies, even below district level, which are supposed to provide immediate relief and take on the rescue effort?

Uttarakhand and Srinagar

In the recent past, the IAF has been involved in massive rescue and relief operations in tandem with the Indian Army, the Indian Navy and some of the paramilitary forces in Uttarakhand, Srinagar and more recently in Chennai. Op Rahat, the rescue effort in Uttarakhand in June 2013, involved various fleets of the IAF. It was a daunting task with helicopters required to land on postage stamp-sized, hastily prepared cleared areas and fly sorties to villages and towns, which had literally been wiped off from the face of the earth and were hence difficult to locate. The transport aircraft, besides the routine flying in of relief material and flying out of stranded civilians, established an ‘air bridge’ to supply fuel in the remote areas not accessible otherwise, to facilitate helicopter operations. A total of 3,536 sorties were flown by the IAF, 23,892 persons were airlifted to safer areas and 797 tonnes of relief material airlifted—a mammoth task by any standard undertaken by a fleet of over 50 helicopters and transport aircraft.

The story in Srinagar was somewhat similar in September last year, when the River Jhelum had broken its banks after incessant rains. As floods wreaked havoc and destruction in the state of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), the IAF and the Indian Army were once again the immediate responders. Later, the Indian Navy too joined in with 200 marine commandos (MARCOS), flown in by the IAF. All three Services were deployed to carry out the speedy rescue and relief operations in the flood-hit areas of J&K. About 70 fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters of the IAF were pressed into service to fly in relief material and personnel. Additionally, six teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) were also flown in. The IAF flew about 3,000 sorties, airlifting 4,500 tonnes, which included dropping of food and essential supplies by helicopters. The fixed-wing aircraft evacuated about 35,000 civilians, while the helicopters rescued about 17,000 people, stranded in isolated areas or in need of immediate help.

Chennai

This year, it was the turn of Chennai to be ‘rescued’ by the IAF. The incessant rain notwithstanding, the IAF responded with its usual promptness and reached the flood-affected Chennai region, commencing operations at dawn on December 2. The rescue and relief operations commenced immediately thereafter from Air Force Station in Tambaram and the Naval Air Station in Arakkonam. The transport fleet of the IAF consisting of C-17, C-130, IL-76 and An-32 was pressed into service, and flew 48 sorties, airlifting, apart from relief supplies, 30 teams of the NDRF and five teams of the Indian Army into the affected areas. These aircraft airlifted 300.8 tonnes of relief material, including suction pumps and boats. As the civil airport at Chennai was under water and declared inoperative, the IAF pitched in to evacuate 770 stranded civilian passengers to cities like Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Delhi.

The rescue of a lady in advanced stages the pregnancy, from on top of a water tank by a helicopter was a display of professionalism of the highest order

The IAF helicopters too operated from the airbase at Tambaram, at times in marginal weather conditions, evacuating stranded citizens of Chennai, who were taking refuge on rooftops. The fleet flew 192 sorties, airlifted 456 people, including women, infants and senior citizens. The helicopters airdropped the much needed supplies of drinking water and food. The rescue of a lady in advanced stages of pregnancy, from the top of a water tank by a helicopter was a display of professionalism of the highest order. Neighbours, who recorded the rescue, uploaded it on the social media, from where it was picked up and telecast on almost all news channels, winning accolades from the entire country. The proud mother gave birth to twins the following day and was felicitated by the IAF pilots who rescued her.

Road Ahead

India has been traditionally vulnerable to natural disasters due to its unique geoclimatic conditions. Floods, droughts, cyclones, earthquakes and landslides are recurrent phenomena. As per a study by the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, about 60 per cent of the landmass is prone to earthquakes of various intensities; over 40 million hectares is prone to floods; about eight per cent of total coastal area is prone to cyclones and 68 per cent of the land area is susceptible to drought. In the decade 1990-2000, an average of about 4,344 people lost their lives and about 30 million were affected by disasters every year. The loss in terms of private, community and public assets is astronomical. It is only after a disaster strikes that the wheels of the government, both at the Centre and at the states, move and that too bit by bit as experience has shown. With disasters striking India with increasing regularity and ferocity, there should be a plan in place to tackle the disaster and reduce its impact. As a result, people are repeatedly caught unaware.

Some lessons have been learnt and the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), under the Ministry of Home Affairs, was established through an Act of Parliament in 2005. The agency is mandated to frame policies, lay guidelines and best practices, in coordination with the State Disaster Management Authorities (SDMAs) to ensure a comprehensive approach and effective response in the event of a disaster. While it trains the administration and police forces for a quick response to minimise damage, it is unfortunate, that the reality is different. The NDRF, under the NDMA, has been constituted and has its 12 battalions located in various sites in the disaster prone areas, to minimise the response time. The personnel are on deputation from the paramilitary forces and are trained and equipped to handle natural and man-made disasters and even nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) emergencies. After its establishment in 2005, the NDRF does have success stories of creating awareness amongst people, training of state administration and police personnel, and many rescues to its credit. Yet, in the unfortunate event of a disaster, the first response is almost always by the IAF or one of the Services, with a complete breakdown of the state machinery.

The key to efficient disaster response depends on creating awareness in the local population and effective training of the specialised forces. While the armed forces train and re-train for fighting a war, providing succour in times of a disaster, it must be remembered, is not the primary role of any of the Services. It is very important to ensure capacity-building of the state administration and police personnel, who invariably should be the first responders. Their training, hence, is of equal, if not of greater importance. In addition, the local people need to be sensitised about the precautions to be taken and the immediate actions to be initiated in the event of a calamity.

Conclusion

In view of the frequency of disasters striking India, there is a need for continued vigilance, preparedness and conscious efforts to reduce the impact of a natural disaster and avoidance of man-made disasters. It requires a planned approach to disaster management. An encouraging development in the area of disaster management in the country is the ushering in of a new culture of preparedness, quick response, strategic thinking and prevention. Efforts are also underway to make disaster management a community movement with active involvement of the locals. A lot more, however, needs to be done to create a mass movement in near future.

Disaster management is not merely a subject to be taught in classrooms, but a habit to be developed not only by the individual, but also by the entire community. Participation of every component of society in practising disaster management is the sole key to success.

Until we achieve a mass movement, the IAF along with the Indian Army and the Indian Navy will continue to be available to the country in any eventuality.