Indian ship provides assistance to bush fire hit area in Madagascar

Indian Naval Ship Trikand, which is on a goodwill visit to East Africa, on Saturday reached out to help bush-fire hit area in the Indian Ocean island nation of Madagascar, and donated food items and medicines to the effected people.

The calamity at Ambilobe, a region about 140 km from Antsiranana in north Madagascar, saw bush fires resulting in extensive damage to property and livelihood.

"In support of the government and the people of Madagascar, the Indian Navy swung into immediate action to provide succour to more than five thousand affected citizens," an official statement said.

Since the ship is always ready to provide humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) during such eventualities, storage of such material on ships is a standard operating procedure, an official statement said.

The ship provided 1,000 kg rice, 50 kg jam, tinned fruits and tea, 250 litres of tetra packed milk, 100 litres of cooking oil, essential medicines and also disposable cutlery to the effected people.

The ship, which belongs to the Western Fleet of Indian Navy, was at Antsiranana from August 31 to September 3.

The statement added that during its stay, the ship has been extensively engaging with the Malagasy authorities both in the military and civil arena to boost relations between the nations.

--IANS

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