Choppers are proving very handy for security forces in their fight against rebels in the sprawling forested regions of Bastar specially in rushing the critically injured jawans to Jagdalpur Medical College Hospital, the nearest worthwhile healthcare facility in the southern part of the state facing Maoist rebellion for the last 3 decades.
Notably, rushing the security forces Jawans injured in encounter with rebels to hospital through road is a cumbersome task fraught with fear of being ambushed by insurgents any time. In this scenario, helicopter cover provided by the Air Force is the first as well as the last option for security forces to fly out safely from the inner parts to divisional headquarters at Jagdalpur or even State capital Raipur.
Malaria is another scourge taking heavy toll of security jawans engaged in anti insurgency operations. Thousands of Central Reserve Police Force, Chhattisgarh Armed Forces, CoBRA battalion, Border Security Forces as well as Indo-Tibetan Border Police jawans are living in camps set up in forested areas prone to Malaria. Hundreds of Jawans annually fall prey to this endemic disease due to polluted water, forest cover and unprotected living condition.