Kerala Floods: Pilots Of Indian Commercial Pilots' Association Writes To PM Narendra Modi To Fly Without Payment To Support Rescue Operations
Pilots of Indian Commercial Pilots' Association (ICPA) have written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi showing their commitment to fly planes without payment to support Operation Madad and Operation Sahyog in Kerala.
Thiruvananthapuram, August 18: Pilots of Indian Commercial Pilots' Association (ICPA) have written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi showing their commitment to fly planes without payment to support Operation Madad and Operation Sahyog in Kerala. The pilots on the Airbus 320 and Boeing 787 in Air India have kept their protest on hold and offered unconditional support to the government in rescue operations in flood-hit Kerala. Yesterday, a section of Air India pilots had threatened to stop operations if their flying allowance dues are not paid immediately.
According to National Crisis Management Committee, various Central Ministries have made available food, water and medicines which include 3,00,000 food packets, 6,00,000 MT of milk, 14,00,000 litres of drinking water, 150 potable water purification kits with a capacity of 1,00,000 litres each. In addition to this, More than 6,900 life jackets, 3,000 lifebuoys, 167 inflatable tower lights,2,100 raincoats,1,300 gumboots&153 chainsaws provided as per request of the state government.
Cabinet Secretary has also directed five more helicopters to be mobilised by the India Air Force, the Navy and ONGC which will be pressed into service by tomorrow. A total of 67 helicopters, 24 aircraft, 548 motorboats and thousands of rescue personnel from the Navy, the Army, the Air Force, NDRF, and the Coast Guard have been pressed into service to evacuate people from submerged areas to relief camps and distribute relief materials.
However, a fresh red alert was issued in 11 of the 14 districts in Kerala by the India Meteorological Department (IMD). The department has also warned of "heavy to heavy rainfalls" in the next 24 hours. The three districts which have been exempted from the weather alert are Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam and Kasaragod.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 18, 2018 09:16 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).