It is always true that in the times of crisis whether manmade or natural, the Indian Armed Forces have always acted like a saviour for the people, and this time also when both J&K and Punjab are facing devastating floods, landslides and other natural calamities the Army and the Air Force have emerged as the first and most reliable line of response, undertaking rescue operations and delivering critical relief with unwavering commitment and efficiency.
These men in Olive have been offering not just tangible aid but also a sense of reassurance to the people in distress and dilemma as God this time seems to be unhappy and is acting fiercely with no respite coming to fore. What is unfortunate in these testing times is the absurd mannerism shown by the political class including the ones who are in power and those constituting opposition as both these groups have started indulging in blame games, exploiting human tragedy as an opportunity for political point-scoring.
It is sad that opposition is asking those in power about what they have done to stop mining, which allegedly led to flooding in water bodies and on the other side, those in power are questioning the role of LG, and their successors who were in power before the political party in power took over the reins of the Union Territory.
This mudslinging and accusation cycles have created a negative environment across the UT forcing the common man to turn towards the army and air force for genuine relief. Reportedly, Mi-17 and Chinook helicopters have conducted at least 55 sorties to evacuate stranded civilians and personnel from the Indian Army and Border Security Force from inundated areas. The C-130 transport aircrafts have also been deployed to facilitate rapid movement of specialised National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams into the affected zones. As far as army is concerned, it is also on forefront in providing succour to the flood affected people. Engineers of the Tiger Division have laid a 110-foot Bailey bridge in record 12 hours to revive the road link over Tawi bridge in Jammu, the eastern span of which was severely damaged by floods.
As the IAF is executing relief missions in close coordination with the Indian Army, Border Security Force, NDRF and the local administration to ensure timely evacuation and distribution of supplies one can say that the politicians in J&K needs to learn a lot from armed forces because instead of helping the marooned population they are creating administrative hurdles to justify their stand and demean the one taken by their opponents.
