With the recent floods inciting havoc in Gujarat and Maharashtra, as many as 300 people have been rescued and shifted to safe havens by the helicopters deployed by the South Western Air Command (SWAC), a senior official said Thursday.
The SWAC official further mentioned as a result of the proactive approach undertaken by the helicopters and aircrafts deployed at various nodal points in the two states, the Indian Air Force was able to implement effective relief operations.
According to sources, at least 300 women and children, stranded in the flood waters were rescued and were later shifted to safer places by the helicopters deployed by SWAC team during the end of July and early August.
The team had proactively deployed helicopters at various nodal points in Pune, Mumbai, Vadodara, Jamnagar, and Ahmedabad.
Furthermore, the team conducted around 77 operations and saved more than 300 lives in flood-affected areas in these two states. Around 23,000 kgs of food packets were dropped in these locations, while almost 200 Army, Navy, NDRF and SDRF personals were deployed to rescue those in need by the helicopters and aircraft.
While many people were rescued from the besieged areas of Kolhapur and Sangli districts, a vast majority of the population was rescued from Navsari, Surat, Kutch, Vadodara and Jamnagar district of Gujarat.
In a press release, it was informed that the SWAC teams helped the NDRF to reach out to 1050 passengers stranded in the Mahalaxmi Express in Maharashtra near Badlapur in Thane district, due to heavy flooding on the railway tracks and adjoining areas since the end of July.
All passengers were later rescued and were brought to safety.
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