Nearly 3 lakh rescued by Army, NDRF: MHA tells HC

Army and National Disaster Response Force personnel have rescued nearly three lakh people from flood-affected areas in Jammu and Kashmir, the Union Home Ministry said today.
In a status report filed before the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, it said :"Indian Army has deployed 288 columns (approximately 30,000 troops) along with 224 boats. As on September 20, 2.08 lakh people have been rescued to safer places."
The High Court is hearing a PIL on relief operations in the flood-ravaged state.
The Ministry of Home Affairs counsel said the NDRF had deployed 22 teams, consisting of 955 personnel, along with 148 boats and 30 divers for rescue operations and rescued 50,815 people.

"At present, 10 teams of NDRF are on stand-by in Kashmir. NDRF has established four camps in Srinagar and provided medical aid to 7000 flood victims," the counsel said.
He said CRPF personnel have also evacuated nearly 28,000 people to safety from various flood-affected areas in Kashmir.

On the evacuations, the counsel said nearly 53,000 stranded passengers were airlifted by the Indian Air Force from various locations while 28,000 were evacuated from Srinagar to other parts of the country.
"Over 35,000 persons have been evacuated by civil airlines from Srinagar and Leh to Jammu and Delhi," he said.
The counsel said the Railways have also ferried over 52,000 people from Udhampur and Jammu stations to various parts of the country.

He said while the rescue operations have been terminated by the IAF, assistance "on call" basis in desired time-frame is still available.
"However, relief operations by Army's aviation wing are on. About 2,900 sorties have been carried out by IAF till September 20, 2014," the counsel said.