Click to play videoPurnia: With three lakh people still marooned in flood-hit Bihar, the military rescue and relief operation, codenamed Kosi Prahar, is now in full swing.
Close to 5,000 combat troops are on the ground, evacuating tens of thousands of people from the swollen Kosi everyday and delivering essential supplies to the stranded populace across six districts.
The war-like effort involves the mobilisation of 37 army columns, 17 military helicopters and over 500 rescue boats
Over the last few days, the Army has been pulling out about 25,000 people everyday out of harm's way
"We are confident we should be able to evacuate all stranded people in two to three days maybe earlier,” says one of the army officers involved in the rescue, Col Ajay Das.
The army says initial deployment was slow as the civil authorities assessed the scale of the disaster. But this was soon scaled up a few days later and 145 naval divers are also on the job.
“The difficulties are immense. Just to highlight a few - water depth about eight to 10 feet, current varies from six to eight knots at places, that's the kind of current,” says army officer Col Raj Shukla.
The air force has also moved in, dropping more than 360 tonnes of relief material and evacuating 350 people.
“We plan thereafter in the next two to three days to shift our focus to medical and sanitation which will be a major effort. And restoration of road and rail links,” says Col Das.
Asked to complete the evacuation of the estimated three lakh people still stranded in the flood in three days, the military faces an uphill task.
(With inputs from Vishal Thapar)
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