On June 17 last year, the skies opened up over Kedarnath and adjoining hills bringing torrents of water and mud sliding into the valleys.
The Armed Forces went into overdrive and earned plaudits from the nation.
The IAF called it Operation Rahat under which possibly the biggest helicopter lift in history was undertaken.
Army jawans were everywhere in the hills and the National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) showed its mettle.
It’s a year to those eventful days and time to take stock of the state of Human Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) capabilities of a nation that, at a minimum, lays claim to regional power status.
In its power projection endeavour, the nation’s air power would play a major role in task execution and perception management.
Resoluteness
India’s rising stock in matters geopolitic makes it the ‘big brother’ of the region.
The time has come to use our defence capability to affect military diplomacy. Capability and credibility are two characteristics which determine the relevance, or otherwise, of a nation’s claim to greatness.
While capability is a measure of capacity to execute a plan, credibility is an intangible born out of a record of historical actions and political decisiveness to execute a decision.
This is true in the HADR role where doctrine and a cogent plan need to be drawn up in advance; availability of assets and expertise of personnel count for capability while the will to execute the plan stamps the mark of credibility to the perception of ‘greatness’ being sought.
On May 28, President Obama addressing cadets at the US military Academy at West Point said ‘…when a typhoon hits the Philippines, or girls are abducted in Nigeria…..it is America that the world looks up for help.”
He was alluding to the ‘greatness’ of the US, as manifest in other countries approaching it in times of need. As India embarks on a path of resoluteness in whatever it plans to do under a new dispensation, it’s time for a HADR reality check and work our capability to advantage with some forward thinking.
India can be a regional Good Samaritan, and now is the time to announce it to the world.
Altruistic
Post-World War II. the Berlin airlift and Marshal Plan though aid programmes on surface, announced to the world the resoluteness of American political will and its almost limitless capacity to come to the aid of friends via the humanitarian aid route.
The spirit to come to the needy’s assistance is in abundance in India too.
Indian air power is in the forefront of the HADR effort, as it can deploy heavy loads very quickly to inaccessible areas, which is what the disaster affected areas generally become.
In the Bhuj earthquake, the Bhuj Air Force Station had 95 dead and hundreds wounded, but went about the task of being the primary base to receive aid for the complete area.
When the tsunami struck in the Andamans, the Air Force Station at Car Nicobar was devastated and lost 116 personnel including ladies and children.
The true air warrior spirit evolved out of the destruction and the Station went about its task as the nodal relief centre, being the only connection to the outside world.
The destruction was widespread and a quick analysis showed all IAF assets would have to be geared-up for the task.
30 transport aircraft and 16 helicopters flew round the clock to help the island territories and two IL-78 aerial refuelling tankers were stripped of their fuselage fuel tanks overnight and the aircraft pressed into relief sorties.
No international assistance was sought.
Supportive
India’s capabilities have improved further.
The IAF has acquired the C 17 Globemaster, and as the name suggests, the aircraft has global reach. With other aircraft like the C 130 Super Hercules and IL-76s in its inventory, the IAF’s reach is substantial.
Add helicopter assets, recently augmented with 100+ new Mi 17 V5s (and 15 Chinook heavy lift helicopters to arrive), and one is talking of disaster relief potential of exceptional scale which very few nations possess.
The NDRF, with specialist equipment showed its paces in Uttarakhand and the Fukushima tragedy.
With environmental change causing unpredictable weather phenomenon, the nation must plan holistically for the future.
India must exercise regional leadership by being operationally ready to offer help when others need aid.
What is required is an acceptance of our potential and a publicly stated vision of being a regional relief provider.
That’s how big brothers act, in a display of spontaneous supportive actions.
This would add to India’s political stature besides being a fitting tribute to the gallant soldiers, airmen and NDRF personnel who slogged tirelessly in the hills of Uttarakhand a year ago, some of whom made the supreme sacrifice so that others may live!
The writer is a retired Air Vice Marshal, and a Distinguished Fellow at the Centre for Air Power Studies
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