‘Operation Madad’ was a non-combative and relief military operation initiated and enforced by the Pakistan Navy. It was an emergency response due to the enormous nationwide floods that crashed the country. Its main strategies were to perform SAR overruns to assist affected areas of Pakistan in the floods of 2010. It started from June 4, 2010, to February 2011.
‘Madad’ was the crucial and the largest naval operation launched by the Pakistan Navy since the 1971 Naval conflict. The objective of this operation was to search and rescue the people. It also gave disaster relief, humanitarian relief, rehabilitation, and reconstruction of all the infrastructure damaged in the floods. The naval bases that were included and assisted as the major bases in Operation Madad were:
- PNS Ahsan in Gwadar — served as the Operation Commander Center for affectees of Balochistan Province.
- PNS Makran — served as an air hub for the naval air aviation
- Jinnah Naval Base — supervised the entire operation
- PNS Mehran — provided air operations in Sindh Province.
Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Noman Bashir personally conducted the operation. Vice-Admiral Abbas Raza, Deputy Chief of Naval Staff of Naval Operations, state that:
“[A]ll assets of Pakistan Navy have been made safe and secured in case the cyclone ‘Phet’ hits the coastal areas of Karachi and parts of Balochistan”.
Entire units of PN were put on active duty and made ready to meet any eventuality, as a precautionary measure in the aftermath of the cyclone, which has already started striking the coast of Oman. Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Nauman Bashir, had been personally supervising the Operation ‘Madad which had especially been chalked out for the relief. Rescue of the civilian population settled along the coastal belt where the storm can hit, in case it diverts towards Pakistani coasts from Omani coast. Pakistan Navy had sent its helicopters in the deep sea and the Creeks area to inform the fishermen, who were on the fishing spree, asking them to instantly withdraw to the harbors.
The naval units along the coastal regions have been prepared with crucial assistance and medical aid goods in abundance. They carried out this work as part of our responsibility and didn’t take any additional funding. All the ships were sent to the deep sea as part of the Standing Order Procedures during uncommon moments.
PN nearly scanned weather and cyclone reports of the Pakistan Met Office and analytic reports were made very frequently for keeping around a clock lookout on the situation of the cyclone. While the public settled in the low-lying regions along the coast had already been warned about the situation and in case of flooding, they would be shifted to safer places. 14 families who were marooned in the storms due to high tides were departed and shifted to safer places in PN helicopters. Director Public Relations Captain Mobin Ashraf Bajwa and other senior officers of PN also attended the press conference. Pakistan Navy is ready to provide help if there is any eventuality or untoward happening.
