Karnataka seeks Air Force help for rescue efforts

The State Government has sought the help of the Indian Air Force to carry out rescue and relief operations in the flood-hit areas.

The Indian Air Force has been unable to carry out relief and rescue operations from Karwar port because of inclement weather conditions.

“At present we cannot fly helicopters in the coastal region because of bad weather. Once the weather turns fine we will start the relief and rescue operations in those areas,” said an IAF officer involved in the rescue operations.

The IAF has set up a three-member team to monitor the situation from the Headquarters Training Command in Bangalore.

For the second day the IAF continued to deploy aircraft in flood-affected areas. The IAF officer said the situation in Mantralayam in Andhra Pradesh continued to be grim.

IAF personnel were continuing to winch people from the flooded areas. Packets of water and food were being dropped in areas close to and in the districts of Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh, Raichur, Dharwad and Bagalkot.

The National Disaster Management Authority is using fixed-wing aircraft to transport boats and other disaster management material to the affected areas.