Cyclone Yaas: NDRF staff that evacuated 842 in Gujarat rescues 10 fishermen in Odisha

Express News Service
BHUBANESWAR: A National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) staff, which had evacuated 842 individuals in Gujarat throughout extraordinarily extreme cyclone Tauktae, rescued 10 fishermen of Jagatsinghpur district who had been stranded in the midst of a river in pitch darkness on Tuesday.

The 10 fishermen of Japa village below Erasama police limits had presumably not realized the danger of venturing into Jatadhar river, only a day forward of very extreme cyclone Yaas’s landfall in north coastal Odisha.

Their boat reportedly capsized however they managed to swim to a river island.

One of the fishermen telephoned the sarpanch and expressed his apprehension that they may get pulled by the sturdy river present.

The sarpanch instantly contacted the Block Development Officer (BDO), Tehsildar and Erasama police and knowledgeable them concerning the perilous scenario of the stranded fishermen.

A ship with 10 individuals had gone for fishing and was returning yesterday when it capsized close to the shore off Japa in Jagatsinghpur’s Ersama. All 10 had been rescued by @NDRFHQ , @odisha_police and BDO. @NewIndianXpress @XpressOdisha pic.twitter.com/RvjReY7ajO
— Siba Mohanty (@Siba_TNIE) May 26, 2021

Jagatsinghpur collector Sangram Keshari Mohapatra was alerted concerning the incident and he bought in contact with district SP R Prakash.

Two groups of NDRF had been stationed in Jagatsinghpur – one in Paradip and the opposite in Erasama. Prakash, who had accompanied IG (Operations) Amitabh Thakur to Sandhakuda slum in Paradip as some locals had been reluctant to get shifted to cyclone shelters, requested Erasama police to help the NDRF staff in reaching the spot.

A 16-member staff led by NDRF Inspector Purshotam Singh Rana arrived close to Jatadhar river within the night and launched an operation at 6.40 pm to rescue the fishermen.

“It was raining heavily and squally winds were blowing in the area. Besides, as it was completely dark, the operation was very challenging for us but we are trained to handle such situations and 10 fishermen were safely brought to the shore in our inflatable motor boats,” Rana advised The New Indian Express.

The NDRF personnel had been outfitted with rescue lights and life jackets and so they efficiently accomplished the rescue operation by 7.10 pm.

Rana’s staff, which was airlifted from Jamnagar to Bhubaneswar in an Indian Air Force (IAF) plane, had evacuated a whole bunch of individuals at Dholera, Dholka and Mahuva in Gujarat throughout Cyclone Tauktae.

Notably, NDRF’s highest ever deployment of groups in Odisha and West Bengal to deal with a cyclone scenario has been on this yr.

“So far, this is the highest ever deputation of NDRF teams in a cyclonic situation in Odisha and West Bengal. In Odisha, the previous record of 50 teams was during extremely severe cyclone Fani in 2019 and 30 odd teams in West Bengal during super cyclone Amphan last year,” mentioned DG SN Pradhan.

To deal with any exigency arising out of very extreme cyclone Yaas, NDRF has deployed 52 groups in Odisha and 45 groups in West Bengal.

“All this has happened as an extra measure of precaution and preparation because the Centre and the State Governments on the basis of the lessons from the cyclones in the past, including Tauktae, are very focused on minimizing damage to life and property and are targeting zero casualty,” mentioned Pradhan.

ALSO SEE: