Army, IAF step up ops in flood-hit regions

Eight columns of the Indian Army are deployed at various parts of rain-ravaged Kerala, two of them posted in Idukki district.

One column of the Army from the Pangode Military Station is carrying out relief operations in Adimali area in Idukki district and one column in Idukki from the Defence Security Crops (DSC), Kannur.

DSC Kannur has also deputed troops in Iritty in Kannur district, Thamarassery in Kozhikode district, Malappuram, Wayanad and Idukki. Eighty Army personnel from the Madras Regiment, Pangode were deployed as part of the rescue and relief operation for tourists stranded at a resort in Pallivasal, in Idukki district.

Two columns of MEG Bengaluru and one column from Hyderabad are deployed in northern Kerala. One column of Army personnel from 44 Field Regiment, Coimbatore, has also been deployed.

The state government had approached the HQ Southern Air Command of the Indian Air Force on Thursday, for assistance in flood relief operations. Two helicopters were pressed into service and flown to Kozhikode and utilised in Wayanad and Kozhikode districts.

Five AN–32 aircraft were deployed to airlift NDRF teams and relief equipment from Arakkonam to Kozhikode. Relief teams from Bengaluru and Hyderabad were also airlifted to Kozhikode.