Colombo, Dec 15 (PTI) — India on Sunday wound up operations of a field hospital deployed in cyclone-hit Sri Lanka after successfully completing a major humanitarian mission, the Indian High Commission here said.
The full-fledged para field hospital was set up under Operation Sagar Bandhu and airlifted to Sri Lanka on December 2 along with a 78-member Integrated Task Force of the Indian Army’s Shatrujeet Brigade. It was deployed at Mahiyanganaya near Kandy to address urgent medical needs in one of the worst-affected regions.
During its operation, the hospital treated 7,176 patients, carried out 513 minor procedures and performed 14 major surgeries, providing critical lifesaving care, including trauma management. The facility catered to nearly 1,000–1,200 patients daily, the mission said.
Following the completion of its assignment, the medical team returned to India on Sunday.
Beyond medical assistance, the Indian task force also restored vital communication links in the region. Army signallers repaired a damaged optical fibre cable near a base transceiver station, reviving connectivity after a cyclone-triggered communication blackout despite challenging terrain and weather.
Sri Lanka has been grappling with widespread flooding, landslides and infrastructure damage since mid-November, severely straining its disaster-response capacity. India was the first country to respond to Colombo’s international appeal for help.
As of Sunday evening, at least 644 people had died and 183 remained missing since November 16. Over 6,000 houses were fully destroyed, more than 1.12 lakh partially damaged, and over 70,000 people were still sheltering in relief camps, official data showed.
By- Charu