People moved to safety, rescue teams have new mission — saving animals

Said Sherawat, “Over the past three days, we have rescued several people whose makeshift houses were flooded following days of heavy rain… based on distress calls or on spotting them in the water. We had to make multiple trips on our boats and each time, we rescued two-three residents…”

So far, 13 persons and six cattle have been rescued in Shahdara district, 1,441 persons and 114 cattle in the East district and 955 people and 805 cattle in the Northeast district.

On Friday, The Indian Express accompanied a five-member team on one such operation to rescue at least a dozen cows stranded in a gaushala nearby.

Aiming to rescue as many cattle as they could in one go, Sherawat and four of his colleagues, including a Delhi Police officer, got into a rescue boat with ropes to tie the animals.

As the boat headed to its destination, head constable Sudhir Chaprana from the Gandhi Nagar police station said: “There is a gaushala nearby and many cows are stranded there… their caretakers are helping us rescue them.”

He said they have rescued several buffaloes, cows and dogs stuck in isolated corners or in forest areas. “While we are currently only rescuing animals as a majority of residents have been shifted to safety, we are still on the lookout for people who are stranded. If we spot someone, we have to convince them to put their faith in us and step into the boat,” he added.

Around a kilometre away, the rescue boat stopped near the gaushala and the team got to work. Rescue team member Rahul Dhama placed a rope around one of the cows and brought it closer to the boat, while Sherawat and Chaprana grabbed hold of the animal.

“We function throughout the day and night… At least five-six high-power rescue boats with at least five NDRF personnel are always on the ground… looking for either animals or residents,” said Sherawat, before setting out on the boat again.