India, Jan. 23 -- Lieutenant Colonel Seeta Ashok Shelke, who led rescue and relief operations during the 2024 Wayanad floods and landslides and oversaw the construction of the 190-ft-long Bailey Bridge at Chooralmala to restore vital connectivity to remote villages, has been awarded the Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar 2026, the Union hyome ministry said in a statement.

During the rescue efforts following the landslides, photographs of Shelke, then a Major, leading the Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations in Kerala's Wayanad, were widely circulated on social media.

While the officer won the award in the individual category, the Sikkim State Disaster Management Authority won it in the Institutional ...