New Delhi: A unit of army engineers, the 5 Sikh battalion and Army Aviation Corps pilots today rescued more than 800 people through a combination of engineering skills and daredevil-flying to bridge a chasm over the Alaknanda river with ropes and helicopters.
But their feat is likely to be lost in the din that political leaders have unleashed following Narendra Modi’s visit last week and claims that he helped “rescue” 15,000 people and in a Rambo-act “para-dropped” a medical team. Competitive claims are flying between the BJP and the Congress on what they have done to give relief to the stranded in Uttarakhand.
Even the army is not “para-dropping” its paratroopers. The special forces are either trekking through the hills or slithering down from hovering helicopters. There isn’t a drop-zone in the hills in which paratroopers can land. The army and the air force would have done it if there was one.
Air chief marshal N.A.K. Browne, usually careful with his words, promised today that “the rotors of our helicopters will keep churning till the last stranded person is rescued”.
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, who was out of the country, visited Dehradun today in what is being seen as a late response to the impact of Modi’s two-day trip to Uttarakhand last week that got the Gujarat chief minister more mileage in cyberspace than his helicopter could log.
The impression that has been created — that Modi rescued 15,000 people of Gujarat from the tumult caused by nature’s fury in Uttarakhand — does not withstand scrutiny. Modi himself has made no such claim. But his party’s state unit spokesperson, Anil Baluni, has explained that there was a sophisticated plan put together by Modi to energise and bring his folk back home.
How do you distinguish a Gujarati from a non-Gujarati in a crowd of hapless pilgrims from across the country desperately seeking succour? Besides, the Gujarat chief minister was not given permission to land anywhere beyond Jolly Grant because that could interfere with relief and rescue.
24/06/13 Sujan Dutta/The Telegraph
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But their feat is likely to be lost in the din that political leaders have unleashed following Narendra Modi’s visit last week and claims that he helped “rescue” 15,000 people and in a Rambo-act “para-dropped” a medical team. Competitive claims are flying between the BJP and the Congress on what they have done to give relief to the stranded in Uttarakhand.
Even the army is not “para-dropping” its paratroopers. The special forces are either trekking through the hills or slithering down from hovering helicopters. There isn’t a drop-zone in the hills in which paratroopers can land. The army and the air force would have done it if there was one.
Air chief marshal N.A.K. Browne, usually careful with his words, promised today that “the rotors of our helicopters will keep churning till the last stranded person is rescued”.
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, who was out of the country, visited Dehradun today in what is being seen as a late response to the impact of Modi’s two-day trip to Uttarakhand last week that got the Gujarat chief minister more mileage in cyberspace than his helicopter could log.
The impression that has been created — that Modi rescued 15,000 people of Gujarat from the tumult caused by nature’s fury in Uttarakhand — does not withstand scrutiny. Modi himself has made no such claim. But his party’s state unit spokesperson, Anil Baluni, has explained that there was a sophisticated plan put together by Modi to energise and bring his folk back home.
How do you distinguish a Gujarati from a non-Gujarati in a crowd of hapless pilgrims from across the country desperately seeking succour? Besides, the Gujarat chief minister was not given permission to land anywhere beyond Jolly Grant because that could interfere with relief and rescue.
24/06/13 Sujan Dutta/The Telegraph
