The Arunachal Pradesh government has deployed a commercial helicopter to supply essential food and medical supplies to remote villages cut off by flash floods and landslides in the state. Heavy rains around a week ago triggered massive landslides and floods, isolating several villages in Lower Siang district from the rest of the state. Collapsed bridges and road blockages due to landslides at multiple locations left villages like Rotte, Rame, Loglu, Lipin, Mane, Tene, Sipu, Kakki, Kadu, Rina, Sido, and Korang completely isolated. In response to the crisis, the authorities pressed a state-owned Skyone Airways Mi-172 helicopter into service to airlift emergency supplies to the affected areas.
During the daylong operation, comprising four sorties, 230 bags of rice, weighing 11.5 metric tonnes, were airlifted from Pasighat to Koyu, providing relief to flash flood-affected villages. Additionally, four patients were evacuated from Koyu to Pasighat for medical treatment, and a total of 91 passengers were also airlifted from interior areas of Daporijo, Koloriang, and Ziro. Civil aviation officials said that administrative, disaster management, and food safety officials in Itanagar, Pasighat, Likabali, and Nari have been kept on high alert to coordinate seamless offloading and distribution of the ration packages to the affected people.
The Lower Siang district administration has also stepped in to facilitate clearance of debris along the Likabali-Basar-Bame stretch of the Akajan-Likabali-Bame Road. A massive landslide near Brahmaputra View near Garu has necessitated immediate clearing operations. To ensure the safety of commuters and allow uninterrupted restoration work, the district administration has introduced a strict, time-bound traffic regulation schedule for all vehicular movement on the Akajan-Likabali-Bame Road.
The road serves as a lifeline for seven border districts of Arunachal and is of immense strategic importance for national security, facilitating the seamless transit of security personnel and equipment to the border regions.
