The Centre has offered to deploy National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams in Nepal to help with search-and-rescue operations following devastating flash floods that have killed at least 552 people on both sides of the Nepal-Tibet border.
Entire settlements have been swept away, roads and bridges destroyed and major hydropower infrastructure damaged. “Two aircraft with relief materials have already been sent; we are expecting a third aircraft to carry humanitarian assistance from our side to Nepal. As requested by Nepal, we are preparing to send a tunnel rescue team, for which a recce team is being flown in first to assess the on-the-ground situation as to what equipment will be required. We are also sending a medical team to Nepal. India has separately offered to send NDRF personnel and equipment for search-and-rescue operations. “We have also made a specific offer to the Nepal authorities to dispatch NDRF teams along with their associated equipment that can help in ongoing search and rescue operations and bring relief assistance to people impacted by the tragedy. We await a response from the government of Nepal on this front. We stand ready to offer any assistance that the Nepal authorities might require,” Jaiswal added. “The offer for help is natural. Our security agencies are doing the search and rescue operation.
In addition, we have also offered Bailey bridges along with associated technical teams, so that connectivity can be restored quickly in the affected parts of Nepal,” Jaiswal said. The disaster has left more than 1,400 people missing, including hundreds of foreign nationals.
The MEA statement came hours after Nepal said it did not need foreign search-and-rescue teams, insisting that its own security agencies were capable of handling the situation. For now we don’t require such help,” he said.
