IAF, Army rescue stranded in Pali, Jalore

For the second consecutive day on Tuesday, army columns and air force helicopters continued to rescue people stranded in rain hit districts of Jalore and Pali.

While the army columns rescued 59 people in the last 24 hours, the Air Force helicopters rescued people struck in the small villages that were surrounded by gushing water from all sides.

Meanwhile, the Pali district collector has cancelled all leaves and holidays of the administrative officers to pitch in with rescue effort.

On Monday the Indian Air Force had been handicapped due to the extreme weather conditions that stayed prevalent for most part of the day. However, on Tuesday the IAF launched MI-17V5 helicopters from various bases for flood rescue and relief operations.

Two helicopters took off from Jodhpur that provided relief and rescue work at Jalore and Pali districts of the state.

“A total of five helicopters already pressed into service with more aircraft standing by in a state of readiness at Air Force bases in Jamnagar, Phalodi and Jodhpur,” said officials.

At Pali, 32 people were airlifted from Dansa, Bandhnio and Sodha villages.

However, their rescue posed problems as the helicopter could not land. Following this a boat was lowered from the helicopter which was used to carry people from the affected parts and into the helicopter.

Officials of the Indian Army also pitched in with the rescue and relief operations as a column from the 15 mechanised unit rescued six civilians at Sayla in Jalore district situated on the Ahor-Dhansana road.

Meanwhile, situation worsened in Barmer district too and even at Utarlai air force base as well after heavy rains lashed the area since late Monday night.

Here, army column was pressed into rescue which saved 21 people in coordination with the National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF) team. Waterlogging in various parts of the base created problems for the officials. However, the water was being cleared by using water pumps and motors.