NDRF's cadaver dog finds dead during Sri Lanka rescue ops

New Delhi, Dec 3 (PTI) The NDRF has, for the first time, detected the dead through a cadaver dog during the rescue and relief operations being conducted by it in Sri Lanka which has suffered widespread devastation due to cyclone Ditwah, officials said on Wednesday.

The federal contingency force has deployed two teams comprising 80 personnel and four dogs as part of Operation Sagar Bandhu launched by India to assist its southern maritime neighbour in conducting relief and rescue operations in its floods and landslide affected areas.

Sri Lanka has been grappling with widespread flooding, landslides and severe infrastructure collapse, leaving several districts isolated and severely straining the country's disaster-response capacity.

At least 479 people have been killed and 350 are missing as of Wednesday evening due to catastrophic floods and landslides caused by extreme weather conditions since November 16.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) canine squad in Sri Lanka comprises two cadaver dogs who have been recently trained in the domain.

These dogs are skilled to sniff dead persons who are buried beneath the debris and slush.

This is also their first international deployment. Their first operational task was during the landslides that took place in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi (Dharali) early this year but they could not indicate any bodies because they were buried under 50-60 feet of debris.

"One of our cadaver dogs detected a body in Badulla on Wednesday. This is the first-ever success for this category of dogs that were very recently inducted into the NDRF.

"Although we feel happy in saving lives, finding a dead person brings closure for their families and near and dear ones. That is the only solace we get when it comes to deployment of cadaver dogs," NDRF contingent commander Praveen Kumar Tiwari told PTI over the phone.

The dogs were trained at the 8th battalion of the force located in Ghaziabad near Delhi. Tiwari is the commanding officer of this unit.

Surya Kumar Maurya, the second-in-command of the NDRF contingent and the unit's veterinary doctor, said the male body was detected by cadaver dog Vicky, an over-a-year-old Labrador.

"Vicky barked and informed his handler about the body that was about four to five feet beneath the mud, woods and boulders," Maurya added.

NDRF officials said the other cadaver dog Rocky, also a Labrador, has given indications at some landslide-affected areas and both the dogs will be deployed extensively over the next two days in Sri Lanka.

Rocky, according to officials, indicated and barked at an area from where the carcass of a peacock was recovered. As it rained heavily, the rescuers will return at the spot on Thursday to look for bodies, they said.

The force, till early Wednesday, has rescued and evacuated about 136 people, including a nine-month pregnant woman from Puttalam. It also retrieved another body from Badulla on Wednesday.

The rescuers distributed rations and medicine to about 2,000 people till now, the officials said.

PTI had first reported in August that the NDRF pressed in cadaver dogs in Uttarkashi.

The force has recently trained about six such dogs to ensure that the bodies of those who perished in a disaster can be located.

It procured a special scent from abroad that smells akin to the odour emitted by a dead body for training these dogs.

"For all these years, the NDRF focussed on its mandate of saving lives. Utilising the golden hour of finding life during a disaster has been the guiding principle of the rescuers and hence, finding the dead or mortal remains was not a priority," a senior officer had said, explaining the rationale of bringing these dogs 19 years after their raising in 2006.

However, the officer said the force has also been part of operations where NDRF personnel are tasked to retrieve bodies from under the debris like in the aftermath of a landslide or train or road accident. Cadaver dogs are an essential part of such a search world over, he had said. PTI NES KSS KSS