New Delhi, Mar 15 (PTI) The CRPF is mulling creation of more night landing capable helipads as air evacuation of its injured troops from remote Left Wing Extremism-affected areas remains a sore point for the force.
The paramilitary force has deployed close to 40 percent of its total strength (about 1.20 lakh personnel) for anti-Naxal operations in various states with its troops and special jungle warfare units like the Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) undertaking a “decisive battle” in some of the worst violence affected areas of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Bihar.
The force, as per senior officers and documents accessed by PTI, is establishing at least 30 new forward operating bases (FOB) in deep jungles of Chhattisgarh (south Bastar) while about half-a-dozen such locations are being scouted in Jharkhand and Bihar as part of the strategy of “moving deep into the Maoist stronghold and hitting them hard.” The government has said the number of Left Wing Extremism (LWE) districts in the country has come down from 126 to 70 over the last few years and it is working to better these numbers.
“Helipads are a pre-requisite to meet any contingency while implementing the government’s strategy of going deep. During an encounter or IED blast in these far flung areas, air evacuation of injured troops is the most important factor so that they can get quick medical care and lives are saved,” a senior officer deployed in the LWE operations grid said.
Now, he adds, here is the catch. “There have been numerous instances when troops undertaking an operation secured a landing site near them but the helicopters got delayed or pilots refused the sortie due to a variety of technical reasons. The ‘golden hour’ is lost,” he said.
A commanding officer of a battalion who operates with the specialised jungle warfare CoBRA unit of the CRPF in Chhattisgarh said, “Helicopter operations for anti-Naxal operations are governed by a set of standard operating procedures and once the pilots say an air evacuation is not possible, you have no other option but to look for other means to evacuate the injured troops.” Weather conditions and availability of natural light are two most important factors due to which choppers are either delayed or sorties are cancelled leading to huge resentment among the ground troops, he said.
The officer said such issues are often encountered by all the security forces operating in this theatre and hence the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), as the lead combat arm, is looking at ways to “create, secure and light up” more helipads in the interior regions of these states so that the rate of choppers’ landing increases.
The sector offices of the CRPF in the three states have been entrusted with the task, he said.
An officer posted with the anti-naxal operations air wing said a pool of choppers from the Indian Air Force and the BSF have been “strategically” based at Raipur and Jagdalpur (Chhattisgarh) and Ranchi in Jharkhand for these evacuation sorties and for air dropping reinforcements.
“The pilots and crew just cannot throw caution to the winds. They have to weigh all options as they themselves carry about 4-5 soldiers onboard in every such sortie. They need to come back safe too and issues of weather, terrain and light cannot be comprised,” the air wing officer said.
In a recent incident of February, a grievously injured CoBRA officer Bibhor Kumar Singh (31) was evacuated to a medical facility after a seven-hour delay as he was hit by an improvised explosive device (IED) blast during an operation in the Chakrabandha forests of Gaya district in Bihar. The officer lost his legs due to the explosion.
His father Dineshwar Prasad Singh told PTI that there was a “delay” in evacuating him from the blast site to Gaya district headquarters and subsequently to the AIIMS hospital in Delhi.
“We only hope and demand that my brave son is given due respect and recognition so that he can lead his life with pride,” he said.
In an another incident that took place in Chhattisgarh last year, CRPF men were trapped in a deep jungle ambush and while a landing site was prepared, the airlift of the injured was delayed by over three hours as the choppers could not land due to multiple reasons, the first officer quoted above said.
“We are looking to enhance night flying capabilities for the choppers and impart night flying training to more pilots but that, unfortunately, is a work in progress for over a decade now.” “This issue needs to be addressed on a war footing at a time when the government wants troops to hit deeper and end the LWE menace,” a senior Union Home Ministry officer said. PTI NES TDS TDS
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