New Delhi. 10 August 2018. Many parts of Northern Kerala are completely isolated by landslides and floods due to heavy rains. Kerala state government had requested IAF to provide urgent assistance in Wayanad for providing relief to the affected people.
IAF had responded immediately to the crisis and is extending all possible assistance to the people affected by landslides and floods in Kerala through Humanitarian Assistance Disaster Relief (HADR) missions.
Five An-32 transport aircraft were deployed to transport NDRF teams and their equipment from Arakkonam to Calicut on 09 Aug 18. In addition, two NDRF teams from Vijaywada and two team of Army Engineering Group from Bangalore & Hyderabad have been transported to Calicut.
Two Mi-17 V5 helicopter and one Advance Light Helicopter (ALH) has been pressed into service for distribution of relief material and winching operations. On 09 Aug 18, three persons were winched to safety by IAF helicopters and 300 Kg of relief material was dropped for flood affected people. These helicopters continue to be deployed for relief and rescue operations even now and are being tasked as requested by the state administration. The IAF will continue to provide HADR till the situation is normalized.
