Operation Surya Hope

Surya, Central Command's emblem

Operation Surya Hope was the Indian Army’s Central Command response to the June 2013 North India floods in Uttarakhand.[1]

The Uttarakhand flood was caused by record off-season monsoon rains, cloud burst, floods, flash floods, and glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs), which were possibly induced by climate change.[2] The humanitarian disaster affected millions, stranded over 100,000 pilgrims and tourists in Himalayan religious sites, and killed several thousand people.[3][4] The Indian Army's Lucknow based Central Command conducted the operation. Surya or Sun, is the emblem of the Central Command and features prominently on the Command's formation sign and flag, which is probably why Central Command chose to name the effort Operation Surya Hope.[1][5]

Operation Surya Hope was the follow-up to Operation Ganga Prahar.[6][7] The operation was commanded by Lieutenant General Anil Chait, the General Officer Commanding in Chief (GOC in C) of Central Command.[1][8] He was succeeded by Lieutenant General Rajan Bakhshi on 1 July 2013. Soon after assuming command, Bakhshi said that the Army would continue with the relief operations, and that he would soon visit Uttarakhand.[9][10] Over 10,000 troops participated in Operation Surya Hope. It was conducted in arrangement with efforts from the Indian Air Force (IAF) (Operation Rahat), Border Road Organization, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and other para military forces under the Ministry of Home.[11][12]

The floods and landslides in Uttarakhand was considered by many as the worst natural disaster in the area in a hundred years. The Government of India classifies the disaster as a tsunami.[13][14][15] India Meteorological Department (IMD) states that the total rainfall in Uttarakhand from 1 to 18 June 2013 totaled to 385.1 mm, the highest in the last 80 years. The normal rainfall during the period is 71.3 mm, making the total 440% larger than the normal.[12][16]

  1. ^ a b c Ministry of Defence (19 June 2013). "Armed Forces Mount Massive Relief Operations in Uttarakhand and Himachal". Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
  2. ^ Bidwai, Praful (30 June 2013). "India Floods: a Man-made Disaster". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  3. ^ Peer, Basharat (24 June 2013). "India Flood Rescue Hindered by Rain and Landslides". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
  4. ^ Kumar, Hari (25 June 2013). "Copter Crash Kills 19 as Flood Rescue Efforts Strain Indian Air Force". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
  5. ^ Press Trust of India (19 June 2013). "Uttarakhand rescue operations are among army's largest ever". NDTV.
  6. ^ Pioneer News Service (19 June 2013). "Operation Ganga Prahar -Army Aids Flood Affected". Pioneer News Service. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  7. ^ Central Command (19 June 2013). "PRESS RELEASE : OPERATION GANGA PRAHAR ARMY AIDS FLOOD AFFECTED". Central Command. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
  8. ^ India News (22 June 2013). "Second Phase of Operation Surya Hope to Start Today" (in Hindi). itvnewsindia. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
  9. ^ Ashish Tripathi (27 June 2013). "Army commander accompanies 500 people on foot from Badrinath". Times of india. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  10. ^ Arunav Sinha (30 June 2013). "Lieutenant General Bakhi is Central Command's new GOC-in-C". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 7 July 2013. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  11. ^ Ministry of Defence. "IAF Continues 'OP RAHAT'". Ministry of Defence. Press Information Bureau. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
  12. ^ a b MHA (20 June 2013). "22 Helicopters deployed in Uttrakhand for Relief Work Over 22,000 persons rescued 13 teams of NDRF assisting in search & rescue". Press Information Bureau. Retrieved 28 June 2013.
  13. ^ India News (June 2013). "Flood Hits Uttarakhand, 2013" (in Hindi). itvnewsindia. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  14. ^ "Himalaya Tsunami creates havoc in North India, death toll crosses 1,000 - India".
  15. ^ "25 SHOCKING Pictures of Devastation Caused by Himalayan Tsunami in Uttarakhand". CNN IBN Live. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
  16. ^ "India floods: Last stranded pilgrims rescued in Uttarakhand". BBC. 2 July 2013. Retrieved 3 July 2013.