India and Humanitarian Assistance & Disaster Recovery (HADR)

[SSridhar]

I am starting this thread to specifically track India’s involvement in Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations. For a long time now, modern India has been involved in such assistance. The earliest I can think of is the assistance rendered by Dr. Dwarkanath Shantaram Kotnis to serve the Chinese in the late 1930s, especially Chinese army units that had been hit by a virulent strain of plague, during the aggression by Japan in the Second World War. He was sent there along with four other Indian doctors by the Indian National Congress. His tending to the emaciated and injured Chinese soldiers made him a household name there. After Independence, India has rendered enormous assistance to countries in our neighbourhood even when she herself was under immense strain, as it happened during the 2004 tsunami when we sent help to Sri Lanka and Indonesia while reeling under its impact ourselves. The earthquake in Nepal in April, 2015 showed the enormous capacity of India to mount huge rescue and relief efforts at very short notice. The huge C-17 Globemasters and C-130J SuperHercules transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force transported several hundred rescue workers of the National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF), scores of doctors and tonnes of relief material at a very short notice. We have even sent water to Maldives to help its water crisis in late 2014. Amidst all these, India had its own share of disasters to take care of like the Gujarat Earthquake of c. 2001, the tsunami in Dec. 2004, or the Kashmir Earthquake of c. 2005, the Uttarakhand floods in c. 2013, or the latest Chennai floods in Dec. 2015 and many more.

We were also engaged in some of the largest evacuations in history such as the air bridge setup in c. 1989 to evacuate a very large number of over 170,000 Indian expatriates from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain as Iraq invaded Kuwait. In 2006, the Indian Navy evacuated a sizeable number of stranded Indians from Lebanon as the Israeli-Hezbollah war heated up. An impressed USA asked India to join the “core group” of the U.S.-led Combined Support Force (CSF-536) operating out of Utapao, Thailand. Later, it even led to the Americans asking the Indian Government to post a liaison officer at its Pacific Command (PACOM) in Hawaii. When war broke out in March 2015 in Yemen between the Shi’a Houthis and the Sunnis who were supported by a ten-nation coalition supported by Saudi Arabia, it was the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force along with Air India which evacuated not only 4741 Indians but also 1947 foreign nationals belonging to 48 countries under most difficult circumstances in an exercise called Op. Rahat. In fact, the US had advised its nationals to contact the Indian Embassy in San’aa for evacuation. Indian naval assets INS Sumitra, INS Mumbai and INS Tarkash along with IAF’s C-17 Globemasters were employed amidst raging bomb attacks and gunfire to effect the rescue first to Djibouti from Sana’a and Aden and thence to India.

In its initiative to forge working-level jointmanship and interoperability among the Navies of the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), the Indian Navy has been conducting a biennial exercise with navies of the region, called Exercise Milan, since 1995. The tenth edition in Februray 2014 was by far the largest with 17 countries participating in that. Ex. Milan is an international event aimed at enhancing mutual understanding and cooperation in anti-piracy and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) operations among navies in the Bay of Bengal, South East Asia and the larger Indian Ocean region.

India has also been participating in the ASEAN Regional Forum’s (ARF) Disaster Relief Exercise (Direx) by sending its naval assets to the exercise. The aim of ARF DiREX is to exercise information sharing and networking among national agencies of this region towards providing Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) during natural calamities like Earthquakes, Tsunami, etc as well as Search and Rescue (SAR) for ships and aircraft lost at sea.

With its inventory of C-17 Globemasters, C-130J Hercules, Il-76 heavy-lifters, ships like INS Jalashwa and the increasing long-range deployment of frontline warships, the Indian state has become a prominent player in HADR activities extending from West Asia to East China Sea and now South Pacific ocean as well. In December 2015, in order to further boost its Blue Water capabilities, the Indian Navy decided to buy five self-propelled Fleet Support Ships (FSS) that should be capable of transferring all types of stores, ammunition, fuel and personnel to naval units while underway at sea and with an endurance of 12000 nautical miles. This would help in HADR activities of the IN as well significantly.

Let us use this thread therefore to track India’s involvement in HADR activities.

[SSridhar]

Place Holder

[SSridhar]

40 tonnes of relief material airlifted to cyclone-hit Fiji - The Hindu

India on Thursday dispatched relief material to cyclone-hit Fiji as part of its humanitarian assistance and disaster relief efforts in the neighbourhood.

A C-17 Globemaster transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force took off from the Palam air station here to Fiji, via Chennai, with 40 tonnes of relief material, an Air Force officer said. The consignment includes food, medicines and tents. Fiji was hit by the massive Cyclone Winston last Saturday, leaving at least 44 dead.

The island nation has requested foreign aid. India has already announced aid in the aftermath of the disaster.

“Reaching out to a friend in need. India extends $1 million in immediate assistance to Fiji after devastating Cyclone Winston hits,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted on Monday.

[shiv]

Some info in this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nj7IU1a4EMw

[SSridhar]

More Indian Help - Fiji Sun

Forty-eight tonnes of relief assistance from the government of India arrived at the Nadi International Airport yesterday.

The Indian government was among the first to offer help after Cyclone Winston, immediately pledging to give $US1 million ($F2.13 million) to the Government.

Relief items also were brought here by an Indian Air Force C17 Globemaster aircraft.

Indian Air Force Wing Commander Vishal Khanna said: “The government of India has close ties with the Fijian Government, so the Indian government decided to assist Fiji in their time of need.”

He said the aircraft loaded 20 tonnes of relief material from Delhi before loading 28 tonnes more of items from Chennai.

“We wanted to bring the items as fast as we could and deliver it at the earliest. The supplies include medicine, food supply in terms of ready to eat rice, milk powder, and tents for those who have lost their homes.”

Commissioner Western Manasa Tagicakibau, on behalf of the Government, thanked the Indian government and its people for their timely assistance.

[SSridhar]

Sri Lanka floods: Navy sends three ships for relief operations - The Hindu

The Indian Navy has diverted INS Kirch, operating in the South Bay of Bengal, to Colombo to assist Sri Lanka in flood relief operations.

A Navy spoesperson said on Saturday, ''Additionally, INS Jalashwa shall sail out from Visakhapatnam with Humanitarian Assistance Disaster Relief (HADR) stores, which includes victulaling, clothing, medicines and water. She is likely to reach by noon tomorrow.” It will also carry diving teams along with gemini crafts and helicopters.

INS Shardul, with relief material and diving teams, left Kochi at 7 a.m on Saturday and it will reach Colombo at night, he said.

[SSridhar]

Indian Naval Ship To Deliver Aid For Rohingya Muslims In Bangladesh - NDTV

India will on Monday dispatch around 900 tonnes of relief material for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh which is being loaded on to Indian Naval Ship Gharial at Kakinada port in Andhra Pradesh.

Naval officials said the relief material -- sufficient for around 62,000 displaced families -- will on September 28 reach Chittagong in Bangladesh, where thousands of Rohinya refugees have fled from Myanmar.

The material is packaged in customised family packets, containing essential items like ration, clothes, and mosquito nets. By Sunday afternoon, approximately 21,000 units had been loaded.

India sent relief material earlier this month also to Bangladesh by an Indian Air Force C-17 transport aircraft to address the humanitarian crisis emanating from large-scale migration of Rohingya Muslims.

Bangladesh distributes Indian aid, sent under Operation Insaniyat, to Rohingya refugees - India Today

The government of Bangladesh on Thursday began distributing relief material India sent over for Rohingya refugees in the country.

Earlier this week, India sent more than 100 tonnes of materials as part of the first consignment of humanitarian relief meant for the more than 400,000 ethnic minority Muslims who have fled Myanmar's violence-hit Rakhine state into Bangladesh.

Bangladesh's road transport minister and Awami League general secretary Obaidul Quader had recieved the material from Indian High Commissioner Harsh Vardhan Shringla, after an Indian Air Force C -17 aircraft loaded with aid landed in the southeastern port city of Chittagong.

On Thursday, the Bangladesh government, in the presence of several officials from the Indian embassy, began distributing the relief material among the Rohingya refugees. Speaking on the issue, Quader said, "India is with us during any disaster. India should put Myanmar under pressure and take back its citizens."

The relief consists of packets of rice, lentils, biscuits, salt, sugar, soaps, mosquito nets and powdered milk. Each packet weighs around 15kg and India aims to sent a total of 7,000 tonnes of aid material under its 'Operation Insaniyat (Humanity)', sources within the Indian embassy have said.

[SSridhar]

India sends naval patrol aircraft for Emerald Star survivors' rescue

The Indian reach is increasing. Hope we are able to rescue the missing fellow countrymen.

India has dispatched a naval patrol aircraft to Manila to search for sailors of the MV Emerald Star, a cargo ship that sank in the waters to the north-east of the Philippines.

The P-8I patrol aircraft dispatched on Sunday night carried two 'search and rescue' kits which contain inflatable dinghies and emergency food and water supply, which can be dropped near any survivors.

The 33,205-tonne cargo ship Emerald Star sank in the Pacific on Friday off the Philippines, as a typhoon churned in the region. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said 15 Indians were rescued, while a search was still on for 11 others missing.

[UlanBatori]

Slightly OT, but this is real Deepavali for the future: bringing light to the schools where village kids have to study at night because they are working in the daytime.

If ppl in Yoo Ess want to help: Remember IDRF?
Please look for Village Energy Program in their Annual Appeal
http://www.idrf.org/wp-content/uploads/ ... -Final.pdf

Please ask others to consider this in their annual donations, and specify Villge Energy Program when they do. A post here would be very good too, to track how many we got through here as we used to do in the old days when we collected for Indian soldiers' families. That program send over $240K to build schools for orphans and particularly ensure that the girls got an education.

This is an investment. If you have patience to browse 10 pages with color pictures, here is the deal:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B69Bgm ... ZMRXc/view

The IDRF appeal is to extend the program beyond the 50 villages already funded and in progress. Think next 3000 villages, which is 3 million people, 1 million kids.