ON WAY TO DUTY, SDM GETS SWEPT AWAY BY SWOLLEN RIVER

A sub-division magistrate (SDM) was swept away in a swollen river along with his official vehicle and driver when they were trying to cross it in Banswara district of Rajasthan on Friday.

Banswara SP Kalu Ram Rawat said Rameshwar Dayal Meena, SDM of Kushalgarh, was on his way to office from district headquarters when his car got stuck in Bari river near Kalinjara village around 8.30am. As he and his driver got down from the car, they were swept away by a sudden flow of water.

“The driver managed to swim to safety, but so far we have not been able to find the SDM,” he said.

Banswara district collector Bhagwati Lal Kalal and SP Rawat rushed to the spot and launched a rescue operation.

“We took help of the locals to trace the missing SDM. The car is stuck in the middle of the river and we have called a crane to pull it out,” the SP said.

As it has been raining in Banswara since Thursday, the level of the water in the river has increased substantially. Ghatol rainfall station of Banswara has recorded 240 mm of rainfall in the last 24 hours.

Locals said the water level in the river when the accident took place was around 5 feet.

A team of State Disaster Relief Force from Udaipur reached Banswara around 3 pm. “We have put an iron grill in the river near Anandpuri area where it falls into a dam,” Rawat said.