COLOMBO – India has expanded its emergency assistance to Sri Lanka under Operation Sagar Bandhu, with naval and air assets bolstering search, rescue, and relief efforts for thousands of families affected by severe flooding and landslides across the country, triggered by Cyclone Ditwah.
Chetak helicopters deployed from INS Vikrant evacuated several stranded people to safety on Saturday (Nov 29), and on Sunday (Nov 30), Indian Air Force (IAF) MI-17 helicopters conducted extensive missions over the inaccessible Kotmale region, rescuing pregnant women, infants, critically injured individuals, and foreign nationals.
Among those rescued were citizens of Sri Lanka, India, Germany, Slovenia, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Poland, Belarus, Iran, Australia, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. According to a statement from the Indian High Commission in Colombo on Monday (Dec 1), the IAF also airlifted critically injured individuals to Colombo and transported Sri Lankan Army personnel to landslide-affected areas to support ground operations.
India’s elite National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), which arrived in Colombo on Saturday, has been deployed in Kochchikade, working in close coordination with local authorities. Additional NDRF teams have since been sent to Puttalam and Badulla, two of the worst-affected and largely inaccessible areas, where they are assisting families trapped by rising floodwaters and unstable terrain.
The High Commission also confirmed that the evacuation of Indian nationals stranded in Sri Lanka is ongoing. Around 750 passengers have been flown back to various Indian cities through commercial flights and IAF aircraft, with further repatriation efforts underway.
-ENCL





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