With cyclone Ockhi bringing heavy showers, floods and landslips to South Kerala, rescue efforts are in full swing. Jeepers from six districts — Thiruvananthapuram, Pathanamthitta, Kottayam, Alapuzha, Idukki and Ernakulam, have sprung up into action.
Jeepers of the city are coordinating with Kerala Adventure Motor Sport Club members of Ernakulam since November 30 and have mobilised jeep owners of different districts. “We informed the Directorate of Fire and Rescue that we are ready to help. Five of us are on standby to respond to any emergency calls,” says Ramesh Pillai, a member of the Mahindra Thar Club, Trivandrum.
SUVs such as Mahindra Thar and Jeep Wranglers, especially those upgraded for adventure sports, have a distinct advantage over other vehicles when it comes to disaster rescue and recover. Ramesh adds, “When people see our jeeps on the road with fancy looking tyres, water proof exhausts and snorkels, over the wind shield, they think we are doing it for fun. Those are, in fact, the fittings that help us to negotiate challenging terrain, including flooded paths.”
Apart from these fittings these SUVs are fitted with towing systems to pull vehicles stuck in mud and for other such similar situations.
These upgraded SUVs are particularly useful in traversing hilly terrain. Although they have two jeepers in Amboori, where a landslip occurred, those vehicles don’t have the extra fittings to move through tough roads and muddy paths. “So one of us might go and camp there today,”he says.
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