Condoling the deaths in the earthquake that shook Turkey and Syria, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday turned emotional and recalled the 2001 Bhuj earthquake that claimed thousands of lives in Gujarat. The PM turned emotional while addressing MPs at the Bharatiya Janata Party parliamentary party meeting held this morning ahead of the start of proceedings of the ongoing Budget Session of Parliament, according to sources. He recalled the devastating 2001 Bhuj earthquake when he was the chief minister of Gujarat and spoke about the challenges posed for the rescue operations. The Prime Minister also mentioned humanitarian assistance being provided by the Government of India to the disaster-hit country after a magnitude 7.8 quake rippled through both Turkey and Syria on Monday. PM said he could very well relate to what Turkey was going through right now. In 2001, a massive earthquake jolted Bhuj in Gujarat’s Kutch district in which more than 20,000 people were killed and over 1.5 lakh people were injured. The earthquake left thousands homeless. At least 4,372 deaths have been confirmed and thousands were injured after a powerful magnitude 7.8 earthquake rocked Turkey and Syria early Monday, according to officials and agencies, according to officials and agencies. In Syria, 1,451 deaths and 3,531 injuries have been reported by officials.
IAF AIRCRAFT ON WAY TO TURKEY NOT TAKING FLIGHT PATH OVER PAK
Amid speculation that Pakistan did not allow Indian Air Force planes to fly over its air space while going to Turkey and Syria for relief operations, the Indian Air Force clarified that as per standard operating procedure, its aircraft have avoided flying over Pakistan. “Our aircraft don’t fly over Pakistan as this is our standard operating procedure. Our planes take a longer route by flying from the Gujarat side to avoid Pakistani air space while going towards Europe or West Asia,” an IAF official said. The issue came up for clarification after speculations started that Pakistan has denied air space to Indian Air Force for sending relief material to Turkiye and Syria. These two countries have suffered massively due to earthquakes which have killed thousands of people there. India is extending its support to Turkey through the ongoing crisis after the earthquake that jolted the country on Monday. The IAF has, so far, sent four aircraft to Turkiye with relief material, National Disaster Response Force, and a military field hospital from Agra. The Indian Air Force has also despatched a C-130 Super Hercules aircraft with medical supplies to Syria but no personnel would be deployed there for relief operations in view of the ongoing security situation there.
NDRF ON GLORIOUS GLOBAL OPERATIONS, TURKEY IS THE FOURTH
Acclaimed globally after Japan’s triple disaster in 2011 and Nepal earthquake in 2015, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has been given the task for the fourth time since its inception to handle the tragedy of the massive earthquake in Turkey, which has claimed over 4,000 lives so far. Always led from the front by displaying a high level of dedication and commitment, the NDRF, which was constituted in 2006, was first time sent for an international rescue operation in Japan in 2011 to help the country facing triple disaster, followed by Bhutan river rescue operation in 2014 and Nepal earthquake in 2015, NDRF DIG Mohsen Shahidi said. This is the fourth international disaster rescue operation when the NDRF team has been tasked to help earthquake-hit Turkey. This time, a 101-member National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) rescuers, including five female personnel and a four-member canine squad, will help earthquake-hit Turkey from Tuesday. A 51-member team landed at Turkey’s Adana airport this morning. The second team of another 50 members of the NDRF is on its way. Led by Commanding officer Gurminder Singh of NDRF’s 2nd Battalion in Kolkata, the whole contingent of 101 rescuers will start its operations in a coordinated way as per directions of the Indian Embassy in Turkey and local authorities. A massive earthquake, 7.8 magnitude on Richter Scale, ripped through Turkey and Syria on February 6, followed by a series of earthquakes causing huge devastation, loss of lives and damage to infrastructure in both countries and media reports of over 4,000 people lost their lives. “In a very short span of time, NDRF has rescued over 1.48 lakh precious human lives and also evacuated more than seven lakh stranded persons from disaster situations within the country and abroad.
