The Indian Air Force airlifted 21 tonnes of relief material and deployed more than 80 National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel to Sri Lanka early on Saturday as part of Operation Sagar Bandhu, responding to widespread floods and landslides caused by Cyclone Ditwah. PTI reported that a C-130 and an IL-76 left Hindon Air Base late Friday and early Saturday carrying personnel, equipment and critical supplies.
IAF flight, Navy consignments reach Colombo
The C-130 carrying food and sanitary supplies landed at Bandaranaike International Airport at about 1.30 am and was received by Indian High Commission and Sri Lanka Air Force officials, PTI reported. The first tranche of relief consignments had earlier been transported to the island nation by the Indian Navy — aboard INS Vikrant and frontline ship INS Udaigiri — and handed over on arrival, PTI reported.
According to PTI, the NDRF contingent was split into two teams that took off on an IL-76 from Hindon around 4 am. The teams included four rescue dogs and carried inflatable boats, hydraulic cutting and breaching tools, communication gear, first-aid kits and other search-and-rescue stores to assist operations in cyclone-hit regions. PTI reported that roughly eight tonnes of heavy equipment travelled with the personnel.
Human cost, displacement and local damage
Sri Lanka’s Disaster Management Centre had confirmed at least 123 deaths and about 130 people missing as of 9 am on Saturday, with more than 200,000 people from some 61,000 families affected by the floods and landslides, PTI reported. Officials in Kandy warned that local counts could be higher, the district reported more than 50 deaths by late Friday night that remained unverified, while Badulla in the central hills reported over 35 fatalities and several people missing.
The island is operating under strained infrastructure: authorities reported that nearly 35 per cent of areas were without power from early Friday, affecting roughly 7 million customers of the Ceylon Electricity Board. The weather bureau warned that additional heavy rainfall, over 200 mm in parts, was possible even as Cyclone Ditwah was expected to move away by late Saturday, PTI reported, complicating restoration and relief work.
“Neighbourhood first”: India’s stated response
In a social media post cited by PTI, the Indian Air Force said the deployment reaffirmed the “spirit of Neighbourhood first” and underlined India’s readiness to stand with Sri Lanka in its hour of need. The dispatch of aircraft and specialised teams is part of that coordinated response.
The federal contingency force has also mobilised closer to home. PTI reported that 14 NDRF teams were deployed across vulnerable coastal districts of Tamil Nadu, including Villupuram, Chengalpattu, Tiruvallur, Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur, Thanjavur, Pudukkottai and Mayiladuthurai, with additional teams earmarked for Puducherry. A further 10 teams were reported en route to Chennai from NDRF bases in Pune and Vadodara, PTI reported.
Field teams are tasked with search-and-rescue, evacuation support, medical first response and distribution of relief supplies. Inflatable boats, cutting and breaching tools and communications equipment are intended to assist operations in inundated and landslide-affected localities where road access has been disrupted.
(With inputs from PTI)
