New Delhi: With the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) still posing a challenge for the air evacuation of its wounded soldiers from the LWE affected remote areas, the force is looking at building more helipads with night landing facilities.
The paramilitary force has deployed around 40 per cent of its total strength (about 1.20 lakh personnel) for anti-Naxal operations in various states. The force has deployed its jawans and special jungle warfare units such as the Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (COBRA) in some of the most violence-hit areas of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Bihar for a “decisive fight”.
According to documents available with senior officials and ‘PTI-Bhasha’, the force is setting up at least 30 new advance operations bases (FOBs) in the dense forests of Chhattisgarh (South Bastar), while half a dozen such locations are being established in Jharkhand and Bihar. The search is being carried out as part of a strategy to “penetrate deep into the Maoist stronghold and give them a tough fight”.
The government has said that the number of Left Wing Extremism (LWE) districts in the country has come down from 126 to 70 in the last few years and it is working to bring down the number further. A senior official posted in the LWE operations grid said, “The helipad is a pre-requisite to meet any emergent challenge while implementing the government’s strategy of deepening the area.
During an encounter or IED blast in these remote areas, air evacuation of injured soldiers is the most important factor so that they can get prompt medical care and save their lives.” Now, there is a problem here, he said.
He said, “There are many instances when soldiers involved in an operation have secured a landing site near them, but the arrival of helicopters was delayed or the pilots refused to take off due to various technical reasons. The ‘golden period’ has to be lost.
The commanding officer of a battalion working with the CRPF’s special jungle warfare unit ‘COBRA’ in Chhattisgarh said, “Helicopter operations for anti-Naxal operations are governed by standard operating procedures and once the pilots say that air evacuation is possible. No, you are left with no option but to find other means to evacuate the wounded soldiers.
He said that weather conditions and availability of natural light are the two most important factors, due to which the arrival of helicopters is either delayed or flights have been cancelled, causing huge resentment among the soldiers working on the ground.
The official said that such issues are often faced by all the security forces working in this situation and hence the CRPF as the major combat wing is looking at ways to build more helipads, secure them and illuminate them. So that the rate of landing of helicopters in the interior areas of these states can be increased. He said that the sector offices of CRPF in three states have been entrusted with this task.