IAF airlifts NDRF men and equipment from Punjab to Gujarat to tackle Cyclone Tauktae'

Vijay Mohan
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, May 15

The IAF airlifted men and equipment from Bathinda in Punjab to Gujarat on Saturday as part of the government’s efforts to mitigate the effects of Cyclone Tauktae, which is raging off the western coast of India.

One IL-76 strategic freighter airlifted 127 personnel of the National Disaster Relief Force and 11 tonnes of cargo from Bathinda to Jamnagar, while a C-130 aircraft airlifted 25 personnel and 12.3 tonnes of cargo from Bathinda to Rajkot. 

In addition, two C-130 aircraft have airlifted 126 personnel and 14 tonnes of cargo from Bhubaneswar to Jamnagar, according to an IAF spokesperson.

Tauktae, lying over east-central and adjoining southeast Arabian Sea, about190 km north-northwest of Amini Divi and 330 km south-southwest of Panjim-Goa, is very likely to intensify further into a severe cyclonic storm during next few hours and subsequently into a very severe cyclonic storm. It is very likely to move north-north-westwards and cross the Gujarat coast between Porbandar and Naliya around the afternoon or evening of May 18.

The IAF has kept 16 transport aircraft and 18 helicopters on operational readiness in peninsular India in preparation for CCyclone Tauktae which is expected to cause very heavy to extremely heavy rainfall along the western coast of India in the next few days.

The IAF is also focusing on undertaking COVID-19 relief operations in these coastal areas during the coming days as bad weather is likely to affect air operations later. The cyclone relief operations are in addition to those underway for COVID relief.

Till the morning of May 15, the IAF had undertaken a total of 778 domestic sorties across the country, logging 1,147 flying hours, to ferry COVId related stores and equipment. This includes 490 oxygen tankers weighing 8,343 metric tonnes and 209 metric tonnes of other equipment.

Besides, 130 international sorties were carried out by the IAF to bring in 104 oxygen containers weighing 872 metric tonnes and other associated equipment weighing 352 metric tonnes.

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