Indian Army took six hours to get ready for relief

Clearly the response would have been more effective had their been better information, and more importantly better co-ordination.

Army took six hours to get ready for relief
By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, DEC. 29 . The first Army columns took six hours to get started for relief operations after the tsunami stuck the Coromandel coast on Sunday.

"The State Government asked for relief at approximately 0915 hrs on Sunday. That's the first time the information came in ... but the information was very vague at that stage," said the Southern Army Commander, B. S. Takhar. "We have to go by the information that trickles in and builds up over a period of time ... in every situation the complete picture is built up over a period of time," Lt. Gen. Takhar said.

There was no delay on the part of the State Government in seeking help. "There has been total coordination between the Chief Secretary and my Area Commander right from the day one," he told presspersons here today.

Government sources, lauding the Army for relief efforts, said it delayed providing relief to areas outside Chennai. It began effectively only on Monday. The Local Area Command was unwilling to move personnel out of Chennai without clear instructions from New Delhi. Finally, it required the intervention at the highest level of the State Government to move the units.

On December 26, the Army only knew which areas were affected but nothing more. This was because communication was cut off from the affected areas. "The initial information was that casualties had taken place and the number was less than what was now being quoted."

Then information built up on December 27 and 28. At 1 p.m. on December 28, the Army decided to deploy "much more resources than the earlier two days," said the Southern Command General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, who is camping here to oversee relief operations. The total number of people killed in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, "as of information available at 0800 hrs today" was 5,237. In Nagapattinam, the toll was 2,933, while in Kanyakumari 806 and in Cuddalore 507. In Pondicherry, according to the Army, 478 people were killed. As many as 1,199 were injured.

Now there were 2,000 personnel working round the clock in the badly affected areas of the State. The Territorial Army battalions in Tiruchi and Coimbatore had very few personnel, and hence they were not moved. These battalions were deployed in Jammu and Kashmir. There was no dearth of manpower, equipment, rations or medicines. In his opinion, it will take three-four days to restore some semblance of normality. If there is any area that needs relief, the Army could be contacted (phone: 044-2531 6106, 2536 8685).

An army engineering team carried out a reconnaissance of an east coast road bridge at Karaikkal, part of which was washed away. A 100-feet bailey bridge was moved to the area on Tuesday. Construction will begin tomorrow, and is likely to be completed by afternoon. The class-nine bridge will be thrown open to traffic on Thursday evening.

The Army has sent two ships with ten tonnes each of supplies and medicines to Sri Lanka. It has also readied a team of 136 personnel and medical specialists. They are waiting in Bhopal to be airlifted.

Rations, drinking water and communication equipment has been despatched to the Car Nicobar island. The Navy has deployed 11 ships in the area.

He said that in all affected areas, there was effective coordination between the security forces and the civil administration. "I expect the relief work to go on for a few days before the situation stabilises."