In Sri Lanka, under Operation Sagar Bandhu, Indian relief assets are now fully engaged across multiple disaster-hit districts, strengthening local rescue and recovery efforts amid rising casualties and persistent risks of flooding and landslides. 

 

One team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has been conducting rescue missions since yesterday in Badulla, which has been the worst hit by landslides during the Cyclone Ditwah. Equipped with specialised gear and accompanied by trained sniffer dogs, the team has begun search and recovery operations at Kohena village on the Pusella Kanda mountain, where landslides have severely damaged roads and bridges. The NDRF has already recovered three bodies, while search for more bodies and survivors is on. The bodies have been respectfully handed over to the local authorities.

 

Further, an Indian Air Force helicopter carried out a major rescue operation amid worsening conditions triggered by Cyclone Ditwah. The helicopter safely evacuated 57 stranded persons, including 10 children, from Irunguwatta to Matale, providing a critical lifeline to families cut off by landslides and rising floodwaters.

 

In addition to the rescue, the aircraft also transported 2.5 tonnes of essential rations to Kegalle, one of the districts facing acute shortages as roads remain blocked and several villages isolated. The supplies include food items, drinking water and emergency relief materials urgently required by communities still inaccessible by ground.