When incessant rain inundate parts of India the army takes it upon itself to reach remote areas and rescue the marooned.

And when food and essential commodities have to be delivered to citizens cut off from the rest of the country, Indian Air Force helicopters rise to the occasion.

Soldiers, with the help of a crane, attempt to tow a truck stranded in floodwaters in Delhi on July 11, 2003.

Photograph: Prakash Singh/AFP/Getty Images