Humanitarian Aid & Disaster Relief: HADR
HADR are the exercises that Indian armed forces and Disaster response forces conduct to rescue civilians or demonstrate the capacity to conduct such operations.
The Ministry of Home Affairs generally coordinates these with the Ministry of Defense.
Practice HADR Exercises for Disaster Preparedness in India:
- ‘Samanvay 2022: It is an annual Joint Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) exercise conducted by Indian Air Force. The ‘Samanvay 2022’ was conducted from 28 November 2022 to 30 November 2022 at the Agra Air Force Station.
- SAHAYATA HADR– 2019: It was the HADR operations in the aftermath of extremely severe Tropical Revolving Storm ‘IDAI‘
- conducted by by INS Sujata & Shardul and ICGS Sarathi at Beira, Mozambique, .
- This highlighted India’s reputation as the ‘First Responder’ and ‘Net Maritime Security Provider’ in the IOR.
India’s HADR Exercises
Mission SAGAR:
- Mission SAGAR is being undertaken in accordance with the Hon’ble PM’s vision of SAGAR (Security And Growth for All in the Region). This
- reiterates India’s position as a dependable partner,
- It also consolidates Indian Navy as the Preferred Security Partner and First Responder.
- ‘Mission Sagar’ was undertaken in May-June 2020, wherein India reached out to Maldives, Mauritius, Seychelles, Madagascar and Comoros and provided food aid and medicines.
- Mission Sagar–II, INS Airavat, will deliver food aid to Sudan, South Sudan, Djibouti and Eritrea.
- Mission Sagar-III: INS Kiltan delivered 15 Tons of HADR Stores for the flood-affected Central Vietnam.
Till now, more than 13 missions have been conducted. Almost All HADR missions for other countries are known as SAGAR missions.
| Date | Countries | Remarks |
| May 2020 | Mauritius, Madagascar, Maldives, Comoros and Seychelles | Medicines, Medical teams and 580 tons of food aid |
| October 2020 | Djibouti, Eritrea, Sudan and South Sudan | 270 tons of food aid |
| Dec 2020 | Vietnam and Cambodia | HADR aid amounting to 15 tons each |
| March 2021 | Comoros and Madagascar | 1000 Tons of rice each |
| August 2021 | Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam
Thailand – 300 Oxygen Cylinders |
Indonesia – 100 MT Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO), 300 Oxygen concentrator
Vietnam – 100 MT LMO, 05 ISO containers & 300 Oxygen concentrators. |
| August 2021 | Sri Lanka | 100 MT LMO & 05 ISO containers |
| Sept 2021 | Bangladesh | 02 Mobile Oxygen Plants |
| Dec 2021 | Mozambique | 500 tons of Food Aid |
India’s Main HADR Missions in recent times:
In the last two years, Indian Navy has deployed ships to more than 16 Friendly Foreign Countries. Through these deployments, India has delivered a cumulative assistance of more than 3,000 MT of food aid, over 300 MT of Liquid Medical Oxygen, and 900 Concentrators and 20 ISO containers.
- Operation Ganga was the evacuation mission carried out by the Indian government in Ukraine to rescue Indian citizens and students stranded there after the war. The students were rescued from nearby countries like Romania, Hungary, Poland and Moldova.
- ‘Jal Rahat’: The Gajraj Corps of the Indian Army conducted a joint flood relief drill “, Exercise Jal Rahat”, on 16 May 2023, along with other disaster management groups at the Hagrama Bridge on the Manas River in Assam.
- Operation Karuna: India launched ‘Operation Karuna’ to help Myanmar affected by Cyclone Mocha. Three Indian Navy ships reached Myanmar’s port city of Yangon carrying HADR material.
- Operation Cauvery: India has launched ‘Operation Kaveri’ to evacuate Indians stranded in Sudan due to the ongoing civil war in Sudan. Naval ship INS Sumedha has also reached Port Sudan. The first 500 Indians are being brought from there through this ship.
