AURANGABAD: Among various rescue operations carried out in the rain-battered Marathwada region, a family of three from Pohregaon village of Renapur taluka in Latur district had to be air-lifted by an Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopter on Wednesday morning.
Nagorao Tiknare (50), his wife Rukmabai (45) and their 11-year-old son Chandrakant had to spend the night on the terrace of their inundated house as an earlier rescue operation, which used safety boats, proved futile on Tuesday evening.
Saqueb Osmani, the Latur district disaster management officer, said the flow of the Manjra river water prevented the rescue teams from reaching the stranded trio despite many attempts. “The IAF helicopter could reach the spot around 7 am on Wednesday morning and immediately started the rescue mission. Initially, the trio could not climb up to the helicopter using the rope thrown to them. Therefore, a small bed was tied to the rope in order to airlift them,” Osmani said.
Latur district witnessed five rescue operations in which the lives of 101 citizens were saved in the Renapur and Latur tehsil limits.
In Aurangabad district, around 52 people from the Lasur village were rescued on Wednesday morning after the Dheku river level rose further. Ajey Choudhari, the Aurangabad district disaster management officer, said a National Disaster Response Force team (NDRF) was in the area in anticipation of more flooding.
Among other areas, Osmanabad district administration said around 459 people were shifted to safer locations, including 16 individuals who needed help of the NDRF teams to come out of the floodwater, over 24 hours ending on Wednesday morning. Six people trapped in the Dautpur village in the tehsil limits of Osmanabad were rescued using a helicopter.
Meanwhile, no major rainfall activity was reported in Marathwada over the 12-hour period ending on Wednesday evening and this helped ease the flood situation in many places. Earlier, the region reported 24 mm showers on average, ending 9am on Wednesday. The rainfall tally since June 1 has been 1,020 mm, 151% of expected showers.
