IAF pilot flies to J-K to rescue family, stays back to save others
Their home in Srinagar's Jawahar Nagar area had been submerged by swirling water, and residents felt like they were sitting in the middle of the Jhelum. What made matters worse was that Bali's uncle Harpal Singh had suffered a stroke.
It was a phone call from his distressed father in Srinagar at 1.30 am a week ago that put Squadron Leader DPS Bali on the first available flight to floodravaged Jammu and Kashmir. Bali, a fighter pilot in the Indian Air Force on a course in faraway Coimbatore, heard his father say that he might not hear from them again.
Their home in Srinagar's Jawahar Nagar area had been submerged by swirling water, and residents felt like they were sitting in the middle of the Jhelum. What made matters worse was that Bali's uncle Harpal Singh had suffered a stroke.
An instructor who flies MiG-21s and Su-30s, Bali had been in Coimbatore only a few days before he got the distress call. "There was no word from my family after that call," Bali told MAIL TODAY over phone on Sunday.
Bali sought-and immediately got-permission from his commanding officer to join the Kashmir relief effort. It is now IAF practice to pool officers with awareness of local conditions if and when relief and rescue operations are conducted. Bali was in the pool.
Hope
He was on a commercial flight the next morning and reached Delhi, from where he boarded an IAF transport bound for Srinagar. When Bali arrived in his hometown, it was dark. At the break of dawn, he was on board a Mi-17V5 helicopter for the mission, that included rescuing his own family. "The entire neighbourhood was flooded," recalled Bali. He caught a glimpse of his mother waving at the helicopter.
As the helicopter went lower, he made first eye contact with his mother. Assured of his family's safety, Bali pressed on to where the helicopter crew had spotted a large crowd of women and children stranded on a rooftop. Twenty-eight people, mostly women and children, were winched to safety. "One of the children who was rescued was only 30 days old, the same as my nephew," said Bali, who was then winched down to his home. He stayed back for the helicopter to return. By evening, Bali had managed to get his family to safety, including his uncle who had suffered another stroke in the meantime.
Being familiar with the city, Bali opted to stay on in Srinagar and volunteer for more rescue operations. It has been a non-stop effort since then. "In fact, today is the first day when we got a breather," he told MAIL TODAY.
Bali's father, a retired SBI manager, recounted that this was the first instance of the waters of the Jhelum flowing into houses. The current was so strong that it was impossible for normal boats to move through the streets to rescue stranded people.