Cyclone Ditwah: Inside India’s Operation Sagar Bandhu to aid flood-ravaged Sri Lanka

Cyclone Ditwah has battered Sri Lanka, with the death toll climbing to 334 while 370 remain missing as of Monday (December 1). Heavy rains, floods and landslides have left a trail of death and destruction in the island nation as rescue operations continued for a fifth day.

India has launched ‘Operation Sagar Bandhu’ to provide humanitarian assistance to its neighbouring country. Under the initiative, New Delhi has rescued Indian nationals, along with other foreign citizens, as well as supplied disaster relief materials to Sri Lanka.

Let’s take a closer look.

IAF rescues civilians

India has evacuated more than 300 of its nationals stranded in Sri Lanka after Cyclone Ditwah wreaked havoc in the island nation.

Indian Air Force’s (IAF) IL-76 and C-130J heavy lift carriers brought these people from Colombo to Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday, PTI reported, citing a Defence spokesman.

IAF’s helicopters also airlifted a total of 57 Sri Lankan Army personnel from Diyathalawa Army Camp and Colombo to Kotmale, a central hill area totally cut off by roads due to landslides and flooding.

A Pakistani national was among the stranded foreigners rescued by the IAF from cyclone-hit Sri Lanka. The Mi-17 helicopters operated by the air force also evacuated citizens of Germany, South Africa, Slovenia, the United Kingdom, Poland, Belarus, Iran, Australia and Bangladesh.

Four infants were among those rescued.

“The Indian Air Force, in close coordination with Sri Lankan authorities, carried out major rescue and evacuation operations in the landslide-affected Kotmale region, which remains completely cut off by road,” the IAF said in a statement on X on Sunday.

“Across the day’s missions, IAF helicopters evacuated a total of 45 stranded passengers, including six critical casualties and four infants, and brought them safely to Colombo,” it added.

“These included 12 Indian nationals and over 30 foreign nationals from countries such as Germany, South Africa, Slovenia, the UK, Poland, Belarus, Iran, Australia, Pakistan and Bangladesh, along with Sri Lankan citizens,” according to the IAF.

India provides humanitarian relief

India has intensified Operation Sagar Bandhu, its Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) initiative, to aid Sri Lanka, which is affected by Cyclone Ditwah. On Monday (December 1), INS Sukanya reached the port city of Trincomalee with relief materials, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar posted on X.

A C-130J plane carrying about 10 tonnes of disaster response supplies, “BHISHM Cubes and a medical team for on-site training & support” landed in the island nation on Sunday, the EAM said.

A day before, the IAF aircraft had delivered “around 12 tonnes of humanitarian aid, including tents, tarpaulins, blankets, hygiene kits, and ready-to-eat food items” to Colombo.

Earlier, INS Vikrant, India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier, and homegrown frigate INS Udaygiri were deployed to deliver relief material at Colombo.

So far, India has also dispatched more than 300 National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel and around 35 tonnes of essential equipment to the island nation.

The Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka said in a statement that the NDRF teams carried out rescue operations in Kochikade, in close collaboration with Sri Lankan authorities.

They also worked in the Puttalam and Badulla areas, which were heavily hit and cut off. “NDRF assisted families affected by severe flooding and helped ensure their immediate safety”, it said.

Condoling the casualties in Sri Lanka due to Cyclone Ditwah, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed “solidarity with our closest maritime neighbour”.

He added that India has “urgently dispatched relief materials and vital HADR support under Operation Sagar Bandhu. We stand ready to provide more aid and assistance as the situation evolves.”

“Guided by India’s Neighbourhood First policy and Vision MAHASAGAR, India continues to stand firmly with Sri Lanka in its hour of need,” the PM wrote on X.

Cyclone Ditwah devastates Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is battling rising floodwaters as Cyclone Ditwah caused widespread destruction in the island nation. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has declared a state of emergency and urged for international aid, with India being the first to respond.

At least 334 people died and 400 remain missing as the powerful cyclone caused heavy rains and floods in large parts of the island nation. Record downpours from Thursday flooded homes, fields and roads and triggered landslides, mostly in the tea-growing central hill country.

The devastation has forced nearly 200,000 people into shelters, the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said.

The cyclone ravaged about 15,000 homes across the country, sending thousands of people into state-run temporary shelters, according to the DMC.

The northern part of Colombo faced floods, as the water level in the Kelani River rose.

More than 24,000 police, army and air force personnel are still making efforts to reach families stranded by floods, authorities said.

“Although the cyclone has left us, heavy rains upstream are now flooding low-lying areas along the banks of the Kelani River,” a DMC official was quoted as saying by Al Jazeera.

According to the Sri Lanka Navy, five sailors who went missing during rescue operations in Chundikulam were found dead.

The extreme weather system is Sri Lanka’s deadliest natural disaster since 2017, when over 200 people died and hundreds of thousands were displaced due to flooding and landslides.

With inputs from agencies