09-02-2008, 07:00 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Massive Army relief, rescue mission on </b>
PIoneer.com
Amarnath Tewary | Patna
State doing its best to provide succour
<b>In one of the biggest ever relief and rescue operations, the Bihar Government has employed all its resources to face the curse of Kosi which has been wreacking unprecedented destruction and devastation of human life and property. Ever since the deluge has struck Bihar's northeastern parts, the miseries and trauma unleashed by the river have eased a bit</b>.Â
Reports coming in from various flood-hit districts say thousands of people are still stranded in remote areas where relief and rescue teams are not able to reach. The lucky survivors are seen pleading with officials and rescue teams to get their relatives and family members evacuated as soon as possible but their wait and hope continues to linger on.
With the enormity of the Kosi catastrophe, the district administration officials are on their toes to mitigate miseries of the villagers.
Meanwhile, the commander of the Army's Lucknow-based Central Command Lt Gen HS Panag visited some flood-hit areas and supervised the relief and rescue operations run by the Army.
Three Command and Control Nodes, each headed by a Brigadier, have been set up to coordinate logistics and rescue operations and all essential communication networks in the affected areas, including satellite phone connections, have been established with help from Army's Signals units, said Army sources.
Besides, the Army has sent 21 medical teams to extend their medical services in the flooded areas. The Army engineers have set up 14 water points with 500 tents accommodating 20 people each.
The Army involved in the mega relief and rescue operations in Bihar has also established a 24-hour control room to coordinate its operations at the Patna airport and two other control centres have also been activated at Bihta and Purnea airstrips.
With reports coming in that there was shortage of Government officials in the affected zones to monitor the relief and rescue operations, the State Government has deployed newly appointed IAS officers in those areas for smooth work.
To intensify relief and rescue operations, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday held a meeting with vice president of the National Disaster Management Committee NC Vij and discussed ways to evacuate the marooned people on an urgent basis.
It was decided at the meeting that from Tuesday, two additional Army helicopters would be pressed into service to identify the locations where the people were stranded and they would inform the rescue teams to help their evacuation.
Nitish Kumar himself is expected to accompany the NDMC vice president in the choppers on Tuesday. Vij later informed mediapersons that altogether 35 columns of Army with about 427 boats with 141 Naval divers have been pressed into service. Besides, 900 country boats are already plying in the inundated areas with 172 relief camps set up for their rehabilitation.
Addressing mediapersons, Nitish Kumar said till date five lakh marooned people have been evacuated, but he looked uncomfortable when asked about the number of people still being stranded in the floodwaters
According to Additional Secretary in the State Disaster Management Committee Pratayay Amrit, the situation is gradually getting under control with every passing day and hopefully in the next two days, almost all the stranded people would be evacuated.
For the first time, relief and rescue operations on such a large scale have been launched in Bihar and for a poor State like Bihar, it's proving a real difficult time to tackle the situation, believe many in the State.
"People from all across the society should come forward in this moment of crisis to help people in Bihar. It's a bigger challenge than tsunami and Bihar today needs not only the national but international help and assistance", said social expert Shaibal Gupta.
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PIoneer.com
Amarnath Tewary | Patna
State doing its best to provide succour
<b>In one of the biggest ever relief and rescue operations, the Bihar Government has employed all its resources to face the curse of Kosi which has been wreacking unprecedented destruction and devastation of human life and property. Ever since the deluge has struck Bihar's northeastern parts, the miseries and trauma unleashed by the river have eased a bit</b>.Â
Reports coming in from various flood-hit districts say thousands of people are still stranded in remote areas where relief and rescue teams are not able to reach. The lucky survivors are seen pleading with officials and rescue teams to get their relatives and family members evacuated as soon as possible but their wait and hope continues to linger on.
With the enormity of the Kosi catastrophe, the district administration officials are on their toes to mitigate miseries of the villagers.
Meanwhile, the commander of the Army's Lucknow-based Central Command Lt Gen HS Panag visited some flood-hit areas and supervised the relief and rescue operations run by the Army.
Three Command and Control Nodes, each headed by a Brigadier, have been set up to coordinate logistics and rescue operations and all essential communication networks in the affected areas, including satellite phone connections, have been established with help from Army's Signals units, said Army sources.
Besides, the Army has sent 21 medical teams to extend their medical services in the flooded areas. The Army engineers have set up 14 water points with 500 tents accommodating 20 people each.
The Army involved in the mega relief and rescue operations in Bihar has also established a 24-hour control room to coordinate its operations at the Patna airport and two other control centres have also been activated at Bihta and Purnea airstrips.
With reports coming in that there was shortage of Government officials in the affected zones to monitor the relief and rescue operations, the State Government has deployed newly appointed IAS officers in those areas for smooth work.
To intensify relief and rescue operations, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday held a meeting with vice president of the National Disaster Management Committee NC Vij and discussed ways to evacuate the marooned people on an urgent basis.
It was decided at the meeting that from Tuesday, two additional Army helicopters would be pressed into service to identify the locations where the people were stranded and they would inform the rescue teams to help their evacuation.
Nitish Kumar himself is expected to accompany the NDMC vice president in the choppers on Tuesday. Vij later informed mediapersons that altogether 35 columns of Army with about 427 boats with 141 Naval divers have been pressed into service. Besides, 900 country boats are already plying in the inundated areas with 172 relief camps set up for their rehabilitation.
Addressing mediapersons, Nitish Kumar said till date five lakh marooned people have been evacuated, but he looked uncomfortable when asked about the number of people still being stranded in the floodwaters
According to Additional Secretary in the State Disaster Management Committee Pratayay Amrit, the situation is gradually getting under control with every passing day and hopefully in the next two days, almost all the stranded people would be evacuated.
For the first time, relief and rescue operations on such a large scale have been launched in Bihar and for a poor State like Bihar, it's proving a real difficult time to tackle the situation, believe many in the State.
"People from all across the society should come forward in this moment of crisis to help people in Bihar. It's a bigger challenge than tsunami and Bihar today needs not only the national but international help and assistance", said social expert Shaibal Gupta.
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