Army gears up to face probable floods in Gujarat

Ahmedabad, Mar 7 (UNI) With the metal department predicting a ''good'' monsoon this year, the Army is drawing up combat plans to tackle floods, Golden Katar Infantry Division General Officer Commanding (GOC) Major General P G Kamath said today.

''A meeting of formation commanders of the division was held today to formulate strategies as floods are expected for the third successive year. It was decided that heavy equipment like boats, tents, equipment for relief camps, and others will be pre-positioned in the flood-prone areas of the state to avoid exigencies,'' Maj Gen Kamath told a press conference here.

Gujarat has been facing monsoon fury for the past two years.

In 2005, as many as 123 people died and over 250,000 people were evacuated. Last year, the situation was worse as the state faced floods thrice, and Surat and the Central Gujarat districts were the worst affected. In Surat alone, 16 army columns and 32 boats were deployed to rescue marooned people. Over 1000 people had died and property worth crores of rupees lost last year.

''This year, the meteorological department has said there will good monsoon too. By end of May, we shall be ready,'' he said.

Last year, the Army had played a major role in rescue and relief operations in Surat and also at Barmer in Rajasthan.

The GOC said each of the commanders will be earmarked for certain areas and they will later interact with the civil administration and coordinate with them to tackle floods.

Speaking about Army recruitments from Gujarat, he said there has been a surge in the recruitment. While last year the intake was 308 (non-officers), this year it was 449 till date, he elaborated. He said the recruitment is based on the ''male recruitable population'' in each state. The Army has been holding ''Know your Army'' camps to spread awareness about the force, he said.

UNI