Mangalore: It was the day to remember for the lifetime for the fire service man as he had a feeling of satisfaction carrying a month old baby Radha in his arms, and then giving it to the other fire service men waiting at the shore.
Indeed it was a scene where even a stone would express its feelings when it sees a fire service man walking carefully in the flood water carrying the baby in his arms.The sense of satisfaction was so clearly seen on his face.
It was a usual morning to the residents of Maravoor, if the waters of the Falguni river had over flowed the dam and gushed into the nearby houses and made their life miserable.
The dam which had its gates blocked due to the wastage accumulated and the water had to flow over the dam, alarming the authorities about the security of the dam. But as per the consultant engineer Mr. S B Mayya who designed the dam, the flood was anticipated and it is actually the wastage which has caused the damage. The dam is still in the safer condition and on one needs to worry about it since the care has been taken while designing the dam, taking into account all the facts.
He also said that another reason for the water gushing into the houses is the river bank protection wall which was supposed to continue to the extent of half a kilometerwith 3.5 mts height was stopped in the mid way due to the objection of a localite.
The localites were the ones who could be called as good samaritans of the moment. The water was trapped into the compounds walls of the houses and there was a danger of walls collapsing due to water pressure. The localites not only rescued the residents neglecting the danger to their lives and also broke the compound walls so that the pressure of the water would reduce and let the water flow from the available passages.
Later it was the situation when the water level had risen and it posed the danger to some other houses.The fire brigade was called and it arrived after the delay of an hour. It was a complete chaos, they had no motor boat to carry out the rescue operations against the flow of water, there was shortage of the boats since the boats were deployed in rescue operations at Kallapu and Bantwal.
Then the locals came into the rescue once again. They got rope tied connecting two ends so that the life guards can rescue people with the help of it. Only then it was possible to rescue people , majority of them being the dam workers who are from Uttar Pradesh and are living at the place from 12 years.
The rescued people are: Vijeth(3),Kavitha(20),Janaki(18),Divya Ravi Shetty(26) ,Parashuram(27 ),Krishna(2),Roopa(5) Radha(1months) ,chinka(25) ,Draupadi-(25),Coolpati(20) ,Parvati(50),Neerjaan(5),Ootham(18) ,Rajaram(55),Rajesh-(22),Manoj(17),Dharmendra(26),
Rampal(25),Aravind(18)
Among the rescued there is a boy Ootham aged 18 years affected by Polio, he had to be carried by two people in the gushing water.
The rescued have been provided shelter in the nearby Durgaparameshwari Temple where they have been provided with food and necessary facilities by the Localites.
