Army Major "on leave" saved hundreds in Kerala

“A soldier is never off duty.”

The adage was proven true after an Indian Army man, on leave, flew to assist with the relief operations currently underway in flood-hit Kerala.

Meet Major Hemant Raj from the army’s 28 Madras Sapth Shakti command, mobilised a team of retired defence personnel and local fishermen to shift hundreds of stranded people to safety.

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According to reports, on August 18 -- his first day of leave -- when he reached Delhi, he came to know about the massive destruction in Kerala.

“I got to know that my family members were in relief camps and my village was completely flooded. I was informed that my flight to Kochi was cancelled,” Major Raj was quoted as saying.

He then convinced air officials to get him to Thiruvananthapuram from where he contacted Air Force officials and requested them to airdrop him at Chengannur, where he found the situation pitiable; roads were flooded and there was no way he could have reached the interiors. Mobile phones were not working.

Amid the destruction that the floods had wreaked, Major Raj swung into action and formed a team comprising of few ex-servicemen and students.

In three days, the major and his team arranged to drop 10 tonnes of food each day at accurate places.

Kerala is witnessing the worst floods in a century. Over 370 people have lost their lives and more than a million have been rendered homeless.

The flood water has now started receding and people returning home. However, more than 13.43 lakh people are still lodged in 3,520 camps across the southern state.

Over 12,000 litres of drinking water has also been dispatched to the affected areas as the next phase of bringing back and putting together the lives of the displaced is a concern.