The military’s earthquake relief operations in Gujarat, Kashmir and Sikkim, and rescue work during the Ladakh flash floods highlight that it is the only effective disaster response force in the country, says Ajai Shukla

The Indian Air Force has imaginatively employed its new C-130J Super Hercules aircraft -- six of which were purchased in 2010 from the United States for Rs 3,835 crore -- to revive flagging rescue and relief efforts at Dharasu, in flood-hit Uttarakhand.

With fuel running out for the Indian Air Force’s Mi-17 helicopters that were flying relief missions from the small, 1,300-metre Dharasu airstrip, the C-130Js’ game-changing ability to land on tiny airstrips was brought into play. Fully fuelled C-130Js flew in from Hindon (near Ghaziabad) and landed in Dharasu, each one unloading 8,000 litres of aviation fuel from its on-board tanks for use by the Mi-17s. On their return journey, the C-130Js ferried medically distressed people, making this a two-way air bridge.

This is just one recent example of military equipment and personnel becoming the instrument of last resort for overwhelmed administrators in disaster situations.

The Gujarat earthquake in 2001; the Kashmir earthquake in 2005; the Ladakh flash floods in 2010; the Sikkim earthquake in 2011; and multiple flood relief operations highlight that the military is the only effective disaster response force in the country. And that the vast sums spent on the military and its equipment are not just insurance for some far-fetched threat of external aggression but real capability for situations that all too frequently move beyond the capacity of the other instruments of state.

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