Skill Development - scope

ARTICLE
AAI Once Again Extends
Helping Hand in the time of Crisis
Dr. Keerti Singhvi
OSD, AAI
The very thought of the recent
tragedy happened
in Uttarakhand sends a
shivering wave to the spine of an
ordinary man, but motivated towards
development and driven
by steady economic progress
India’s public sector has once
again taken over the important
role of serving the nation in times
of crisis. India’s biggest natural
disaster in Northern Uttarakhand
since the tsunami in 2004 which
destroyed lives and property beyond
imagination came as a great
shock for thousands of pilgrims
and innocent people. The whole
nation was mourning the doomsday.
The immediate concern
was to support the thousands of
people stuck in places that were
unapproachable, except by air. In
a catastrophe of this magnitude
timely action is very important.
Time wasted is lives lost. Helpless
grieving people were desperately
waiting for a savior. The disaster
claimed more than 1000 lives, and
tore apart countless families.
The tragedy saw one of the largest
air rescue efforts in Indian
history. AAI once again proved
that the public sector is ready
to serve the society in difficult
times. Social obligations have always
been of genuine concern to
AAI. Social corporate responsibility
and the maintenance of high
ethical standards is considered
the foremost duty. It is not interpreted
only as providing money
for charity but as involvement in
activities that directly have a positive
impact on people’s lives. AAI
joined hands with state government
of Uttarakhand and Indian
Air Force and showed great esprit
de corps in these hours of need.
The evacuation effort was daring
and overwhelming given the difficult
climatic and topographic
surroundings. The Jolly Grant
Airfield became the busy command
centre for the rescue operations
which came as a blessing
to the traumatized victims. The
vigorous commitment to principles
and a socially responsible
approach was demonstrated by
the varied, valuable and timely
contribution by AAI.
Round the clock services
High quality and Round the
clock services were ensured at
Jolly Grant Airport, Dehradun.
Unbroken movement of choppers
was speedily enabled rescuing
and providing relief to survivors.
The comfort of being airlifted
from a flood to safe ground is the
greatest reassurance for the one
who is trapped. To nurture this
comfort AAI prepared all of its infrastructure
on a war-footing and
extended immediate services for
efficient and smooth operations.
The airport was small and resources
inadequate to tackle such
a demanding situation. Resources
were mobilized massively because
time was short. In an attempt
to boost the search and rescue
operations Aircraft movements
V P Agrawal, Chairman, Airports Authority of India and Archana Agrawal, President
Kalyanmayee receiving the ‘Golden Peacock Eco-Innovation award for the year
2012’ from Smt. Sheila Dikshit, Chief Minister of Govt. of NCT Delhi.
Kaleidoscope July 2013
85