The Indian Air Force deployed its C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft to take a team of geologists and disaster management officials to Nepal for clearing the landslide in a river there which is threatening to cause flood in Bihar.
A C-130J Super Hercules aircraft carried out a night landing at the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu on Saturday and dropped a team of Geological Survey of India, Central Water Commission and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to assist the Nepalese Army in clearing the landslide in a calibrated manner, IAF officials said.
The aircraft was launched at a short notice on the instructions issued by the Cabinet Secretariat to provide help to Nepal in handling the flood situation, they said.
The Special Operations aircraft used its high-end technology equipment to carry out the landing in the tricky airport, where flights do not operate after dark, they said.
The aircraft returned to India at 03:30 hours on Sunday after accomplishing its assigned task, the officials said.
Meanwhile, the IAF has deployed a C-17 heavy-lift aircraft with a team of 20 doctors and a mobile hospital in Purnea to handle the flood situation. The force has kept 14 aircraft on standby mode to participate in relief operations, if required.
“One Ilyushin-76 transport aircraft in Chandigarh, two An-32s in Agra along with two Mi-17V5 helicopters in Gorakhpur have been kept on standby. Four Mi-17V5s have been moved from Bagdogra in West Bengal to Purnea in Bihar for relief operations,” the officials said.
A landslide in Nepal in Bhate Kosi river — a tributary of Kosi river in Bihar, has threatened to cause floods in the state and efforts are being made to clear the blockage in the river.