The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : ENC not to rest on laurels

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jan 06, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

ENC not to rest on laurels

By Our Special Correspondent

VISAKHAPATNAM, JAN. 5. The Eastern Naval Command (ENC), which has undertaken relief operations on a large scale in the tsunami-hit areas, will continue the same till its help is needed, the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of ENC, O.P. Bansal, has said.

``ENC is highly geared to meet the challenge of the huge task. Our first task has been surveillance (of the affected area) and mobilise relief and rush it to the area. Then we assessed the casualties, helped the civil administration, put medical aid in place and are helping to restore the infrastructure as much as we can. We have been doing it for the last 10 days. It is a long haul, particularly in Tamil Nadu, Sri Lanka and Andaman and Nicobar islands. The entire command is on the job,'' Vice-Admiral Bansal told a media conference on Wednesday.

Three areas

Relief operations in three areas were being undertaken under code names, "Operation Madad'' (on the east coast which is under its jurisdiction), "Operation Rainbow East'' (on the east coast of Sri Lanka) and "Operation Gambir'' (in Indonesia).

In addition, the Andaman and Nicobar Command of the Navy, the mounting base in Chennai and other commands were being provided resources in terms of platforms and relief material by the ENC.

Hospital ships

Two ships were converted into hospital ships to render medical aid to the victims, while Naval doctors and other medical staff of all other ships were rendering aid on land. While one ship had returned and two or three were expected to come back to the base in the next few days, the medical staff of the ships would continue to render help. The relief operations were explained by the Chief Staff Officer (operations), K.P. Ramachandran, through a power point presentation.

The State and the Union Governments were quick to start relief operations and the Collectors of all tsunami-affected districts were in touch with him, the ENC chief said.

The ENC's Islander aircraft was over the affected areas by Sunday afternoon to locate the survivors. Along with Visakhapatnam Port Trust, the ENC quickly cleared two boats stuck in the harbour channel here.

Later on, the Naval helicopters operated from places like Suryalanka, Rajahmundry, Vijayawada and Nagapattinam.

To the Andhra coast, five ships carrying medical supplies and diving teams were rushed and medical facilities were provided at relief camps. On the Tamil Nadu coast, which suffered extensive damage, five ships took part in relief operations.

While three ships were rushed to the Sri Lankan port town of Trincomalee, two ships relieved them subsequently.

Among the relief material sent by the ENC were two reverse osmosis plant, 200 portable generator sets, 100 tonnes of ration, 150 tonnes of water, 20,000 blankets, 300 boxes containing medicines and fuel and lubricants more than 1,500 tonnes in quantity.

Most of the relief material was procured by the ENC on its own which involved a massive logistic chain, Vice Admiral Bansal said.

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