Just minutes before the men in olive green emerged in front of her as angels, Amritha had lost her hope of saving the life of her soon-to-be-born child.
The 30-year-old woman, trapped in a relief camp at Puthenvelikkara, was fearing for her own life as the floodwaters had almost submerged the area. However, the men on the rescue mission, trained soldiers as they were, were not ready to give up.
A team led by Subedar Noushad V.K. took the woman tied on to a charpoy (cot) on their shoulders and waded through the raging floodwaters for over an hour before putting her on an Army truck. She was then rushed to a private hospital at Kodungallur where she gave birth to a baby boy the next day. Two days later, Amritha and her newborn had a chance to personally thank their heroes. When she met the officers who had saved her from the jaws of death, she was too overwhelmed to speak at first, but gradually managed to convey her gratitude.
The life of Amritha and her baby would have been at risk had it not been for Captain Prasheel Dhomney and his dauntless crew. The 74-member relief column under the 19th Battalion Madras Regiment saved over 1,000 lives through rescue, evacuation and relief distribution since August 14.
But, despite the pride in saving those lives, there remains a thorn in Captain Dhomney’s flesh. Even as his men were running all along the region, which dangerously straddles the Periyar and the Chalakudy river, calling out the names of missing persons, several people chose not to respond.
“It doesn’t matter how many people you save, you always want to get someone else. However, the attitude shown by some, especially those residing in multi-storey houses, was really frustrating. They were just refusing to come down even as the rampaging floodwaters ripped the whole area,” he said.
On several occasions, people who had been spotted latching onto their near-submerged houses, were snatched on the verge of being washed away. In places already conquered by floodwaters, boats were deployed to conduct the search and rescue mission.
Now, as the floodwater has begun to recede, the unit is engaged in collection and distribution of relief and aid materials to the various camps in and around the area.