Army's Western Command through its formations and units is playing a stellar role to ameliorate the situation due to flood fury not only in its own area but also in neighbouring regions of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
Ambala based 2 Corps and HQ Delhi Area, part of Western Command, have employed hundreds of troops and a plethora of equipment in the form of flood relief columns, and engineering stores like pneumatic boats, assault boats, out-board motors to operate these boats, sand bags, life jackets, a defence spokesman said in Chandigarh on Friday.
The Army is reaching out to the civil population by providing food packets, establishing medical camps and deploying its technically endowed manpower, to ensure that the vulnerable bunds are strengthened and breaches are effectively plugged.
The civil population has also come forward to lend a helping hand to the Army, in limiting the damage caused by floods.
So far, the Army columns from Ambala, Delhi, Meerut and Dehradun have evacuated over 300 personnel from the villages of Indiranagar and Mewlipur in Palwal, Faridabad and Kalanaur, Udhri, Lapra, Jathlana and Lal Chhapar villages in the Yamunanagar district.
In addition, a major breach was plugged at Daulatpur in Saharanpur by Meerut based troops of 2 Corps. Meanwhile, work on plugging two breaches at village Tapu Kamalpur on the Yamnanagar-Saharanpur road is currently in progress.
Thousands of food packets have been provided to the marooned and stranded pilgrims and population at Kedarnath, Badrinath and Gaurikund in Uttaranchal, by the Dehradun based Army formation of 2 Corps.
In Himachal Pradesh, Army personnel provided humanitarian aid in the form of food, medical care and shelter to over 165 stranded tourists and locals, the spokesman said.
It also revived BSNL communications at Pooh. The formation is coordinating airlifting of tourists to safer places in addition to providing administrative succour, medical aid and guidance to the needy on humanitarian grounds.
Outside its area, a column of Western Command rescued 98 people in Bijnor district in Uttar Pradesh, the command has augmented rescue operations through its helicopters since June 19.