Nepal landslide: India sends its C-130J Super Hercules to transport geologists

New Delhi: The Indian Air Force deployed its C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft to transport a team of geologists and disaster management officials to Nepal for clearing the landslide in a river there which is threatening to cause flood in Bihar. A C-130J Super Hercules aircraft carried out a night landing at the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu on Saturday and dropped a team of Geological Survey of India, Central Water Commission and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) there to assist the Nepalese Army in clearing the landlside in a calibrated manner, IAF officials said. [caption id=“attachment_1649111” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. AFP[/caption] The aircraft was launched at a short notice on the instructions issued by the Cabinet Secretariat to provide help to Nepal in handling the flood situation, they said. The Special Operations aircraft used its high-end technology equipment to carry out the landing in the tricky airport, where flights do not operate after dark, they said. The aircraft returned to India at 0330 hours on Sunday after accomplishing its assigned task, the officials said. Meanwhile, the IAF has deployed a C-17 heavy-lift aircraft with a team of 20 doctors and a mobile hospital in Purnea to handle the flood situation. The force has kept 14 aircraft on stand by mode to participate in relief operations, if required. “One Ilyushin-76 transport aircraft in Chandigarh, two An-32s in Agra along with two Mi-17V5 helicopters in Gorakhpur have been kept on stand by. Four Mi-17V5s have been moved from Baghdogra in West Bengal to Purnea in Bihar for relief operations,” the officials said. A landslide in Nepal in Bhate Kosi river — a tributary of Kosi river in Bihar, has threatened to cause floods in the state and efforts are being made to clear the blockage in the river. PTI