FOUR LABOURERS RESCUED FROM PILI RIVER IN HARIDWAR DISTT

HARIDWAR: Police rescued four labourers from a bridge construction site on Sunday after they were stuck amid swirling waters of Pili river in Haridwar following incessant rain, officials said.

The labourers, all from Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh, were working on the construction of the bridge on the river being carried out by the National Highways Authority of India at Shyampur.

“Four labourers stayed at the construction site on Saturday night and were sleeping on a platform set up on bridge pillars. Suddenly they found themselves surrounded by water as the river level rose owing to heavy monsoonal rain,” said Anil Chauhan, station house officer at Shyampur police station.

“After getting information, we immediately alerted the State Disaster Response Force and the control room.

As it would have taken time for rescue personnel to reach the spot, we used an National Highways Authority of India crane and evacuated the labourers through long pipes and ropes,” he said.

Sarjeet Khan, a rescued labourer, said, “We thank Almighty and Uttarakhand police personnel who arrived on time and with the presence of mind used the crane to rescue us.”

Haridwar senior superintendent of police D Senthil Avoodai Krishan Raj said riverside construction workers and villagers have been told not to go to the riverbed, particularly during night.

“In this regard announcements through loudspeakers are being done and police patrolling teams are also cautioning people in flood-prone residential areas and construction sites,” the enior superintendent of police said.

AFTER GETTING INFORMATION, WE IMMEDIATELY ALERTED THE STATE DISASTER RESPONSE FORCE AND THE CONTROL ROOM.