Dehradun:
In its largest rescue operation ever, the Indian Air Force has pulled out all stops as it battles difficult terrain and hostile weather to bring out people stranded in Uttarakhand after floods ravaged the hill state last week. One if its innovations - introducing the Garuds for evacuation.
The Garuds are self-contained special force commando teams; about 20 commandos have been brought to Uttarakhand from Delhi and are based at the Gauchar relief camp from where the Air Force is launching multiple helicopter sorties every day to air evacuate people.
The Garuds have been deployed to speed up rescue work. They will descend from helicopters with ropes to pick up those who are stranded if the choppers are unable to land in places due to the bad weather.
They are also expected to be deployed if more people need to be evacuated from remote areas like Bhairon Chatti, and Garud Chatti, where 50 people are stuck high in the hills. The armed forces have been using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles or UAVs to scan for survivors in the area.
It has been raining heavily in Uttarakhand overnight and today slowing down rescue work considerably. The Met department has predicted heavy rain over the next few days.