Operation Neer (Hindi: "Water") was initiated by Indian government in response to the

Maldivian government The politics of the Maldives take place in the framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President is the Head of Government. Executive power is exercised by the government. The President heads the executive bran ...

's request for help after major fire broke out at the (MWSC) generator control panel on 4 December 2014, causing extensive damage to the cabling of the generator to the Distillation plants and disconnection of water supply. The

Maldives The Maldives, officially the Republic of Maldives, and historically known as the Maldive Islands, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in South Asia located in the Indian Ocean. The Maldives is southwest of Sri Lanka and India, abou ...

do not have standing fresh water, and is thus entirely dependent on

desalination plants Desalination is a process that removes mineral components from saline water. More generally, desalination is the removal of salts and minerals from a substance. One example is soil desalination. This is important for agriculture. It is possible ...

Indian response

The

Indian Navy The Indian Navy (IN) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Navy, maritime and Amphibious warfare, amphibious branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of the Naval Staff (India), Chief ...

diverted , which was off the coast of

Kochi Kochi ( , ), List of renamed Indian cities and states#Kerala, formerly known as Cochin ( ), is a major port city along the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea. It is part of the Ernakulam district, district of Ernakulam in the ...

, to

Malé Malé is the capital and most populous city of the Maldives. With a population of 211,908 in 2022 within its administrative area and coterminous geographical area of , Malé is one of the most densely populated cities in the world. The city i ...

, the capital of the Maldives. She carried 35 tonnes of fresh water and has the capability to produce 20 tonnes of water every day. On 7 December, the a large fleet tanker reached Male carrying 1000 tonnes of water. The

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the air force, air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during armed conflicts. It was officially established on 8 Octob ...

also provided five aircraft including two C-17 Globemaster-III and three

IL-76 The Ilyushin Il-76 (; NATO reporting name: Candid) is a multi-purpose, fixed-wing, four-engine turbofan strategic airlifter designed by the Soviet Union's Ilyushin design bureau as a commercial freighter in 1967, to replace the Antonov An-12. ...

with 153 tonnes of water on 5 December, and again on the 6th of December, provided three aircraft with 130 tonnes on 6 December. One C-17 aircraft with 40 tonnes and another aircraft with about 40 tonnes have also reached Male' on 7 December.

International cooperation

After an appeal for aid from India,

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

, the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

responded with aid programs of their own; India launched Operation Neer and was the first country to respond directly.

References

{{Reflist Indian Air Force Humanitarian military operations involving India Airlifts Modi administration India–Maldives relations 2014 in India