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 Lt
Gen Vinod Bhatia, SM, the GOC of the Trishakti
Corps that was in charge of the relief operations
in Sikkim, spoke exclusively to India Strategic:
“It is for the first time that the Army was
involved in such magnitude during a relief operation.
We activated ourselves on the night of 18 September
itself and the civil administration was contacted
immediately. It was a con-joined IAF and Army
operation and our first task was to reach the
affected people at the earliest. Keeping in mind
the vastness of the disaster and the tough terrain,
it was a herculean task but our soldiers stationed
in the area moved out instantly and were a source
of great support to the citizens.”
Helicopter operations started on 19th morning
and there were 14 choppers working on a daily
basis. Four Mi17s, four ALHs, five Cheetahs, two
Chetaks and three Pawan Hans were deployed for
dropping food, men and medical requirements in
non-accessible heights of the state, he informed.
“Considering the terrain and the disaster, it
was naturally a constraint to get diesel to these
places. We however, overcame it like the other
deterrents and airdropped the fuel at the appropriate
grounds so that the equipment, vehicles and other
machinery could remain operative.”
Asked about the damage to the Army establishments
in the area, he reassured that all the infrastructure
was fine and so were the men. “We have unfortunately
lost two of our men and some others have sustained
injuries. The injured had been lifted from these
areas and all are under treatment,” he said.
Stressing on the war effort of the operation
undertaken, he said that 6000 troops were mobilized
by the 20th from both outside and within the Corps.
“21 columns of Corps of Engineers were moved immediately
to open the roads. 116 remote villages were reached
by the 22nd. Three villages were cut off totally
and we dropped Special Forces by helicopters.
It was the first time that Special Forces were
used for helidropping in relief operations,” Lt
Gen Bhatia said.
 He
added that more than 1600 kilos of rice was dropped
in these villages by the Army choppers. For the
rest of the sufferers who were in accessible areas,
langars were set up to meet their food requirements.
Praising the efficiency of the sappers and Border
Roads’ contingents deployed in the operation,
the Corps Commander informed that 21 land slides
were cleared by 19th morning for light vehicles.
“Next day it was cleared for two-way traffic and
on the 21st the route to Mangan was open. It was
more that 48 hours of rigorous toil against hostile
conditions created by the quake but our men met
the challenge successfully,” he said.
On the role of the state administration in the
relief operations, he said that the police was
very good at maintaining law and order during
the crisis and the state administration was extremely
helpful in letting the Army work without any hassles.
“Rehabilitation phase is on and it will take
time for 100 percent normalcy to come back to
the remote villages.It will take a month-plus
for all the roads to open and we will continue
working even after the snow sets in,” he said.
“Infact the ITBP, Border Roads, NDRF and BSF
all toiled non-stop with the Army to bring things
back to normalcy. The air warriors of the IAF
actually need to be given a pat for their relentless
toil without which it would have been very difficult
to reach some affected villages. Together every
one achieved more- and this is what made Operation
Trishakti Madad successful,” he said.
The soldiers are working nonstop in these adverse
conditions but with smiles on their faces. Every
moment they are a source of great reassurance
to the affected citizens who have full faith in
the Indian Army, said Lt Gen Bhatia with pride.
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