A team of Indian Army personnel, mostly from the medical field, is ready for being airlifted to Sri Lanka, which was ravaged by tsunamis on Sunday, General Officer Commanding, Southern Command, Lt General Balraj Singh said on Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters after holding talks with senior officers in Chennai on the army's relief work, Singh told reporters that 136 army personnel are waiting in Bhopal to be airlifted to Sri Lanka.
He said 30 tonnes of dry rations and medicines for 300 patients were despatched to the island nation on December 26 in two naval ships, while 20 tonnes of dry rations and medicines for 500 patients had been sent to the Andamans.
Relief materials are ready to be despatched to Port Blair also, he said.
He said a 100-foot Bailey bridge has been despatched to Karaikal, an enclave of Pondicherry in Tamil Nadu, to replace a bridge that was washed away by the strong waves.
Army engineers will begin construction of the bridge on Thursday and it will be open for traffic by evening, he said.
Highlighting the assistance being provided by the army, Singh said one column of men from Jammu and Kashmir Rifles were moved on December 26 to the atomic power plant in Kalpakkam, about 75 km from Chennai.
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