Palakkad: As many as three helicopters of the Indian Navy managed to touch down on the hill top of Nelliyampathy Mountains on Tuesday. Pregnant women and several ill persons were rescued by the choppers.
They were brought to the helipad at Kanchikode and were soon rushed to the district hospital by the medical team waiting at the helipad. The choppers managed to land after efforts to take medicine and essential commodities by air failed in the past two days due to heavy mist cover on the hill top.
The choppers took food grains and other essential commodities to Nelliyampathy on Tuesday.
The 250-member team for rescue and relief operations including four doctors, para-medical staff from here and members of Rapid Action Force brought in from Coimbatore took four tonnes of rice and grocery along with medicines to the hill tops of Nelliyampathy on Monday on foot as the helicopter carrying doctors could not land for the second consecutive day due to mist cover on Sunday and Monday.
Doctors of Avitis Super Specialty Hospital here had turned up at the valley and volunteered to take the 19 km journey by foot to provide medical aid to more than 4,000 plantation workers held up in the high range as the mountain was fully detached from the mainland after as many as 70 landslides during the heavy downpour last week.
Nenmara MLA K. Babu said that it would take more than six months to get roads back in shape in the high ranges of Nelliyampathy Mountains which witnessed nearly 70 landslides and was completely cut-off from the mainland.
