KOHIMA: A total of 676 persons from Nagaland stranded in Manipur reached Kohima on Sunday afternoon.
The evacuated persons were received at the IGAR (North) Kohima in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister (Dy CM), Y Patton; Advisor of NSDMA and New and Renewable Energy Resources Nyusietho Nyuthe; DGP Nagaland Rupin Sharma; Inspector General of Assam Rifles (IGAR)- North Maj Gen Vikas Lakhera; and other senior government officials, Angami Public Organisation and its frontal organisation and parents.
Addressing the reception, Patton acknowledged God for bringing Nagaland’s citizens back safely while commending the efforts of the rescue team led by Brig. Ved Beniwal. He thanked the Assam Rifles and the Nagaland Police for their support and efforts rendered in the mission.
Patton maintained that the incident took place a few days back but the state could not immediately evacuate the citizens like Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh as the numbers, compared to Nagaland, were few and considering the distance, they had arranged chartered flights.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=1]Yet, Nagaland brought 676 citizens and another 650 were yet to come, he said, while asserting that the government is making efforts to bring them safely.
Recounting the incident, he said it was ‘like a dream’ and the government received over 800 calls from the students and family members; the government agencies and officials also had sleepless nights to respond to the situation.
Meanwhile, clarifying about criticism towards the state over the evacuation, Rupin Sharma said the government was more interested in the safety of the citizens at Imphal and Manipur, while it was in contact with the Assam Rifles and Manipur government, police and the CRPF to ensure safety and adequate protection.
He stated that the government took a calculated step over the plan on what to do, maintaining that it first opted for airlifting but the Imphal airport was ‘too busy’.
‘So the plan changed to road and it sought the support of the Assam Rifles for escorting the citizens back to the state,’ he said.
The district administration had arranged five buses to drop the citizens to Dimapur free of cost while additional 30 taxis were also arranged for interested persons to reach Dimapur.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=1] [bsa_pro_ad_space id=1]Inspector General of Assam Rifles (IGAR) North, Maj. Gen. Vikas Lakhera said jointly with the government of Nagaland, Nagaland Police and the civil society, it had deliberately planned and took responsibility to bring back the citizens of the state ensuring all safety.
He said it may take a little more time, but he assured full responsibility to bring back home the remaining stranded people. He also informed that a new evacuation team will be sent again on Monday to bring back those who were left behind them.
“We will be there for you, no matter what, we all are in service to the people and we take pride in being called your friends,” he said.
Short speech was also delivered by Angami Public Organisation Vice-President Neivor Rutsa, wherein he acknowledged the officials of various agencies for rendering concerted efforts to bring the citizens back to safety.
Patton also provided monetary assistance of INR 5000 to each unit (to family or individual) as an immediate measure of help.
Meanwhile, taking to Twitter, Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio said, “Happy about the safe return of people from Nagaland. I express my appreciation to all those involved in coordinating the process, and to the paramilitary forces, especially the Assam Rifles for partnering with the State Govt. in ensuring the return of our people from Manipur.”
A student leader informed that from RIIMS – there were 162 UG, specialists, JRs; 40 students from Central Agriculture University , seven from Food and Technology College, another 19 from Manipur University, and five from Sports Academy. Families with women and children were part of the total 676 persons evacuated on Sunday.
It may be mentioned that a total of 22 buses belonging to the NST and Police department brought the stranded persons back to the state.
Later speaking to media persons, Brig. Ved Beniwal, Deputy Inspector General, who commanded ‘Operation Kohima Calling’, said such inter-state operations usually have a lot of challenges and complexities and require coordination with multiple agencies.
In the case of Operation Kohima Calling, he said it coordinated with the officials of IGAR –South, Manipur Police, the army and Manipur state government other than whatever was carried out from Kohima.
He shared that the other challenge was getting the students and families to converge as they were across various areas of Imphal, while ensuring the security of the area and passing of information as the internet services were shut down.
The outcome resulted in 676 students and families including women and children being brought to Kohima.
Meanwhile, Vikas Lakhera informed that two columns of 30 each along with Ved Beniwal and his party with about 75-80 personnel of the Assam Rifles were part of the evacuation.
Y Patton also informed that the Government of Nagaland- Nagaland Police and Assam Rifles were in full coordination for the evacuation of the citizens of Nagaland, and another team of buses will be sent on Monday to evacuate thm.
He also added that 14 buses will be sent batch-wise till the government evacuates all its citizens settled in Manipur.