The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), set up in
the aftermath of the 2004 Tsunami, to handle natural disaster cases in India,
is now going global.
The authority's activities are not limited to India. The
first oversees mission of the NDMA was carried out by its disaster response
arm, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), in Japan in 2011 after the
earthquake in Tohoku that triggered another devastating Tsunami.
The NDRF team was well-equipped to handle the entire
situation and has also been felicitated by Japan.
The NDRF is also being constantly upgraded. It started out
with a staff strength of around 8,000 in 2006, but it is all set to double up
now and is touching the 15,000 number. It is a multi-disciplinary, multi-task
force meeting standards of any other international body.
Though India was present and was leading in Ukraine Crisis, Maldives Water Crisis etc and within India local relief like Uttarakhand floods, Jammu and Kashmir Valley Floods etc in past. The Recent two Humanitarian Missions shown the World that India is capable of Leading the World in Rescue Missions.
Defining images of India's evacuation from Yemen
In a massive 'Operation Raahat', the government has made use
of IAF's C-17 Globemasters and Indian Navy's INS Sumitra to carry out the
evacuation. Special Air India flights have also been flown to bring back
Indians.
Sushma Swaraj and her team were in the news from
a couple of days and this time it was for a good reason. Sushma Swaraj has
directly responded to a request from Sabha Shawesh, a Yemeni woman married to
an Indian and this response has won the appreciation from all over. On March
31st, Sabah has reached out to Modi & Sushma on Twitter for help. "My
baby is an Indian & has every right to be evacuated from Yemen but can't
walk himself as 8 months. I need to accompany him," she had pleaded on
Twitter.
Within no time, Sushma Swaraj has directly
replied to Sabah about her whereabouts. She has taken the contact details of
Sabah and with the help of Indian Embassy in Sanaa, Sabha and her son were
brought back to India. As soon as the mother & son reached India, Sabah has
thanked the Minister. "Finally safe in India. All thanks to Sushma and her
incredible team. Jainhind," said Sabah. And, the minister has reciprocated
the happiness by saying "No need for thanks. It is our duty towards our
country and countrymen. God bless your child - our young citizan," tweeted
Sushma.
MoS for External Affairs VK Singh went to Djibouti to oversee
the evacuation of around 4,000 Indians and 960 Foreign People from 41 Different Countries. Railways played its own role by
providing free tickets to evacuees for travel from Mumbai, where they landed,
to their destinations across the country.
An Egyptian woman, who was among 960 foreign nationals
evacuated by India from Yemen, has lauded Indian Army for rescuing her from the
strife-torn country.
Praising Indian soldiers, Alyaa Gaber Mohamed said it was
only because of their efforts that she was alive. "The reason I'm alive now, after God's will, is the
Indian Army," Alyaa, who is in 20s, wrote in a facebook post. "They let us sleep in the rooms that the army use to
sleep in and they offered us a five star service. They brought us food, juices,
milk, medicines and doctors," she said. A delegation from the Egyptian Embassy was waiting for Alyaa
in Djibouti as she arrived and arranged her return to Egypt. "I'm happy with this journey, despite the hard times I saw, because I also knew that there are still good people who offer help and sacrifices without being waiting for something in return," said Alyaa.
India's Immediate and Strong Relief to Nepal
Nepal
witnessed a devastating earthquake on 25th April, 2015, taking over 5,000 lives
and affecting millions of people. It is believed to be the worst disaster that
has affected the country since 1934. As our heart goes out to those who have
suffered from this horrific calamity, the Indian government has done much more
than send condolence messages. India’s
responsiveness to the situation started within 15 minutes of the earthquake even before Nepal Government took Lead.
Scaling up relief and rescue efforts in quake-hit Nepal that
was named ‘Operation Maitri’, India on Sunday deployed two dozen military
aircraft and choppers and was also undertaking a “big evacuation” through the
road route. As a top Indian official described the situation in the
Himalayan nation as “very, very serious”, nearly 1,000 trained personnel of the
National Disaster Response Force(NDRF) were also pressed into service after
Nepal was struck on Saturday by the worst earthquake in 80 years, killing over
2,350 people.
A slew of steps were also taken for speedy
evacuation of stranded tourists including goodwill visas to foreigners and
mobilising buses and ambulances to bring them by road.
Spain has sought India's help in evacuating its nationals
from Nepal. "Assured the Spanish Foreign Minister that India will provide
all possible help to Spanish nationals in Nepal," Prime Minister Narendra
Modi later tweeted.
Ambassador of Nepal to India Deep Upadhyay has thanked India
profusely for the quick reaction by the government. Addressing the media he
said "it is only because of the assistance from India that we have managed
build such a rescue operation. Within an hour I was lucky to get calls from Prime
Minister and Home Minister and in sometime from Delhi chief minister as well.
Within seven hours Indian rescue teams reached there. Here we are trying to
give information, support and collection of relief material here".
US today praised India's leadership role in helping
earthquake-hit Nepal and persons of different nationalities stranded in
war-ravaged Yemen. "India has demonstrated its global leadership in recent
weeks, first in Yemen and now in Nepal. We are grateful; we are impressed; we
are inspired.
India is becoming the Leader to the World not by showing its Power, but by its kind hearted people and helping Nature.
