Disasters cannot be stopped. The world over, whether it’s Hurricane Katrina or the tsunami or the J&K earthquake, this is a reality of life. But how a country reacts depends entirely on its advancement. Fortunately, we have a well-defined set-up in India. And we in the armed forces are on the cutting edge of the delivery system along with people on the ground and the government. When disaster strikes, as soon as we get the information, our commanders are fully empowered to put us on standby. In the case of the October 8 earthquake, our reaction was instant. Within three hours of receiving the alert, we had reached most affected areas, including Tangdhar and Uri. By 2 pm, we had airlifted a medical team from Udhampur to Tangdhar. As a chopper pilot, there was a great sense of empowerment in being able to give the first visual assessment of the damage caused by the quake. Flying above the areas, we were able to judge the kind of damage, whether material or human. Of course, in this case it was both. This is crucial because the civil administration reacts based on our assessment. There was human damage and material damage. This is precisely why we initially prioritized rushing medical succour to the affected areas and evacuated casualties to field areas and hospitals. Once the injured had been rescued and given treatment, we began pumping in relief supplies in our second phase of operations. And to its credit, the IAF had flown 497 sorties till weather packed up on October 11 evening. The force has already established an air bridge between Delhi and the Valley as supplies from Haryana and Punjab, being sent on a routine basis, picked up.
