11 persons rescued from submerged bus by Dhruv ALH in Mah

New Delhi, Aug 6 (UNI) The indigenously-built Advanced Light Helicopter 'Dhruv' -- back in action after rectification of certain structural faults which led to a long period of grounding -- today helped rescue 11 people from a stranded bus in Buldhana district in the rain-lashed Vidharbha region of Maharashtra.

''The Dhruv helicopter, was swung into action on a receipt of a call for assistance from the district authorities for locating the bus and rescuing the 10 to 15 passengers from it,'' IAF spokesman Wing Cdr Mahesh Upasani told UNI.

He said the ALH, operating from Nanded, was used on the search mission despite the inclement weather and located the bus near Nehakar village.

''Eleven people, including two children, were winched up to safety, and taken to a safe area, while, two persons were found sheltering on a treetop but were scared of using the winch,'' Wing Cdr Upasani said, adding their precise location had been noticed and the district authorities informed.

He said the IAF had stepped up its rescue and relief operations in flood-hit areas of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, despite the inclement weather.

The force has pressed into action almost ten rotary-wing and fixed-wing aircraft, flown in from nearby bases, in the endeavour, he said, adding the force was carrying out sorties whenever there was even a slight let-up in the torrential rain in the area.

''We have so far carried out 102 sorties, rescuing hundreds of people and heli-lifting over 75 tonnes of relief material,'' Wing Cdr Upasani said.

In Chhattisgarh, two Mi-8 helicopters and one An-32 transport aircraft, flown in from the Gorakhpur airbase, are operating from Jagdalpur and Raipur respectively, while, in Maharashtra, one 'Dhruv', two Chetaks and one Mi-8 are operating from Nanded, in rain-lashed Marathwada.

Meanwhile, two Mi-8s, operating from Bhadrachalam, are conducting relief and rescue operations in Andhra Pradesh, he added.

The entire operation is being co-ordinated from the Air Headquarters here with with Principal Director, Operations Air Cmde S P Singh, personally monitoring the activities, Wing Cdr Upasani added.

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