Government rushes three more NDRF teams to Jammu and Kashmir

Government has rushed three more teams of NDRF to Jammu and Kashmir to bolster rescue and relief operations in flood-affected areas. Sources said the teams have been airlifted from various parts of the country and have been inducted to affected regions of Kashmir valley.

Each National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team comprises about 50 personnel equipped with rescue and communication gadgets. The force, officials said, has rescued a total of 18,647 people till now from marooned areas even as they have begun delivering eatables and drinking water to those people who want to stay back. "At some places, we are encountering families and people who want to be provided food and essential eating items as they think they can sustain themselves for sometime. We are also delivering supplies like ready-to-eat food, medicines, drinking water and blankets to the needy," NDRF chief O P Singh, who is supervising operations from Srinagar, told PTI.

The force has so far deployed 150 boats for rescue operations even as it plans to induct a fresh batch of these by tomorrow morning. The force, along with the Army and Indian Air Force, has been at the forefront of rescue operations in the worst-ever floods the state is facing.