Inclement weather hampers quake relief
September 21st, 2011 - 9:05 pm ICT by IANSShillong (Meghalaya), Sep 21 (IANS) Inclement weather Wednesday forced the Indian Air Force (IAF) to suspend rescue and relief operations in quake-hit Sikkim, an officer said.
“We had planned to run four sorties of Mi-17 helicopter and two sorties of Chetak helicopter. But only two sorties of Mi-17 managed to airdrop food supplies and evacuate 10 civilians,” Ranjeeb Sahoo, IAF spokesman at the Eastern Air Command headquarters here, told IANS.
The weather conditions in Sikkim were poor and the air force had to curtail the sorties, he said.
The choppers made all their sorties from the IAF station in Bagdogra in north Bengal.
More than 5,000 army and paramilitary troopers and police personnel are engaged in a massive rescue and relief operation, with more than half of them in the worst-hit north Sikkim areas.
Authorities have opened at least 100 relief camps for the affected people.
Sunday’s quake rocked large parts of India, from New Delhi to Mizoram. It also shook Nepal, Tibet and Bangladesh.
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- 68 dead in earthquake; toll may rise - Sep 20, 2011
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- Army brigade still cut off in quake-hit Sikkim - Sep 24, 2011
- More aid to Sikkim, will visit state soon: Mamata - Sep 19, 2011
- Army, IAF's relief, reconstruction efforts on in Sikkim - Oct 17, 2011
- Arunachal Pradesh CM Khandu still missing - May 01, 2011
- Aerial search resumes for Arunachal CM's missing chopper - May 02, 2011
- With ISRO lead, rescuers search for missing chopper - May 03, 2011
- Eight killed as two IAF choppers collide (Lead) - Aug 30, 2012
- Indian Army chopper goes missing in Sikkim (Lead) - Apr 21, 2011
Tags: authorities, bagdogra, bangladesh, choppers, civilians, command headquarters, food supplies, helicopter, inclement weather, indian air force, meghalaya, nepal tibet, New Delhi, north bengal, quake relief, relief camps, relief operations, shillong, spokesman, weather conditions