1,500 Tourists Stranded at Havelock Islands Will Be Rescued Soon: Rajnath Singh
1,500 Tourists Stranded at Havelock Islands Will Be Rescued Soon: Rajnath Singh
Speaking on the crisis, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said rescue teams have been kept on standby at Port Blair to carry out the evacuation process once the storm is abated.

New Delhi: The government on Thursday assured that stranded tourists at Andaman's Havelock Islands will be evacuated immediately once the storm is abated.

Speaking on the crisis, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said rescue teams have been kept on standby at Port Blair to carry out the evacuation process. He appealed the family members of the 1,400 stranded tourists not to panic as everyone at the Havelock Islands are reported to be safe.

Around 1,500 tourists are stranded at Havelock and Neil islands in the Andamans due to cyclonic weather conditions and four ships have been pressed into service by the Navy today to evacuate them. The two islands, approximately 40 kilometres from Port Blair, have been hit the most by the cyclonic weather conditions caused by a severe depression over southeast Bay of Bengal which led to heavy rainfall, strong wind and rough sea conditions, officials said. The administration has already declared the cyclonic weather as ‘L1 Disaster’.

The Indian Navy on Wednesday swung into action to rescue the stranded tourists but heavy rains played spoilsport.

Havelock and Neil islands, approximately 40 kms from Port Blair, have been hit the most by the cyclonic weather conditions caused by a severe depression over southeast Bay of Bengal which led to heavy rainfall, strong wind and rough sea conditions, officials said.

Neil and Havelock are two of the most popular tourist attractions in Andamans and the only means of transportation from them are vessels and choppers which have stopped operation since Monday last due to bad weather.

South Andaman's deputy commissioner Udit Prakash Rai had said yesterday, "About 1,400 tourists, who had visited the islands, are now stranded and unable to return to Port Blair to fly back home."

The Navy has pressed in three ships to evacuate the tourists after the island's civil administration telephonically requested the Centre for immediate help. Indian Navy ships INS Bitra, INS Bangaram, INS Kumbhir and LCU 38 sailed to Andaman to take part in the rescue operation. The evacuated tourists will be ferried to Port Blair.

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