How deployment of drone by sarpanch’s friend helped locate, rescue 3 labourers stranded in river island amid heavy rains in Gujarat village

Sumitra, Gulaben and Guddu proceeded to a small island in the middle of the river and began cutting bushes when, due to heavy rainfall and inflow of water from the upper catchment area, the flow in the river increased all of a sudden. While the other two labourers, who were on the banks, managed to move to safety, Sumitra, Gulaben and Guddu were stuck.

When the trio did not return home until late in the night, their families reached out to the other two labourers and learnt about their predicament.

On Sunday morning, the family members of the three missing labourers approached the village sarpanch, Fuzel Patel, who informed the Maroli police about the incident. The village talati as well as Mamlatdar officials (key administrative posts in Gujarat) also reached the spot.

Around 2pm, fire department officials went into the river on a boat and brought back the three labourers while their family members and other villagers, who were closely watching the entire operation, erupted in celebrations.

Talking to The Indian Express, Sumitra said, “We had gone to cut wooden logs and bushes on the banks when we spotted the island where there were green bushes. We went there and started cutting them. Suddenly, the water gushed in and engulfed us from all sides… We were hungry and thirsty throughout the night and until the afternoon. All that we could do was to pray to God to save us.”

She said, “None of us slept the entire night as we feared that the water would enter the island and we would be swept away. We also experienced a dip in temperature due to the rainfall and kept shivering all through the night with nothing but our courage by our side. On Sunday morning, we spotted a drone in the sky and heaved a sigh of relief that help was near.”

The deployment of the drone to locate the stranded labourers was the brainchild of village sarpanch Patel. “We reached the banks of the river but could not find them. Since the river is very long, I called up my friend Arshad Bham, a resident of the neighbouring village, as he had a drone. He arrived at the spot and we flew the drone that spotted the labourers. The fire department then turned up with a rescue boat, and they went into the river,” he told The Indian Express.

Fire officer Nandlal Tandel said, “After receiving a call from the village sarpanch, we reached the spot with a rescue boat. The villagers and four firemen had to carry the boat on their shoulders and walk for around one kilometre to reach the banks. We also took Bham along with us. The labourers were filled with enthusiasm upon spotting us. They had been without food or water for 17 hours. We gave them life jackets and brought them safely to the banks. All the villagers gathered at the bank hailed us for saving three lives.”

Maroli police station inspector D J Patel said, “It would have been difficult for us to find the three labourers. It was the idea of village sarpanch Patel to call up his friend and ask him to fly a drone to locate them.”

Said Sumitra, one of the rescued labourers, “On reaching the banks, the first thing we did was drink four bottles of water followed by tea and biscuits. It felt like we had been granted a new life.”