Summary:
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Centre has deployed more contingents of armed forces, aircraft and boats for relief and rescue operations in the state, especially in the worst-hit districts of Pathanamthitta and Ernakulam, where thousands of people remained stranded on Thursday.Three more columns of Army Engineering Task Force (ETF) reached state to strengthen rescue operations. The ETF team carried boats, 900kg ration and 500kg of other relief items.A 56-member team from national disaster response force (NDRF), Pune, too reached Thiruvananthapuram Airport technical area in the afternoon. The rescued persons were safely transported to Air Force Station Shanghumugham, Varkala Helipad and INS Garuda.One team of NDRF consists of 20 personnel and 15 tonnes of relief material. Two columns of ETF – which arrived from Pune in IAF AN-32 aircraft to state capital – were moved to Ernakulam and Thiruvalla, while one column which landed at Kozhikode airport moved to Thrissur. IAF will be airlifting these teams using their IL-76, C-17 Globemaster and C-130J Super Hercules aircraft from various parts of India including Kolkata, Bhubaneswar, Patna, Bathinda, Ahmedabad and New Delhi..