Locals, NDRF tackle nature’s might, save nine as river swells in Punchkula

In just one day, Panchkula witnessed nature’s fury and two incidents of miraculous escapes backed by herculean efforts of locals and NDRF, as the level of Ghaggar river massively increased due to intermittent rains.

In the first incident, a 60-year-old woman, saw her car getting washed away, and was rescued by the locals in an hour-long operation.

According to Sub Inspector Kamaldeep Singh, Sangeeta, a resident of Mansa Devi Complex at Sector 5, had parked her car – a white I-20 at the banks of the river near Kharag Mangoli to offer prayers, when all of a sudden the flow of the river increased.

“Sangeeta was doing her pooja when she saw that the river had swollen. She had not parked her car at a distance like other people did. When she went in to park her car at a safer place, the river suddenly swelled, with the water flow increasing considerably. She could not even start the car,” the sub inspector said.

The police official added that since there were strong currents, the car was getting swept away with Sangeeta, who was in the driver’s seat. However, there was a big stone near a pole and the vehicle could not move beyond the stone. It was then when the locals saw her and immediately rushed towards her.

Roughly six to seven locals of Kharag Mangoli formed a queue and one of them threw rope towards Sangeeta. “Then one of the villagers opened the car door amid the strong currents and tried that she could access the rope. With great difficulty she was taken out,” Kamaldeep added.

The victim was immediately rushed to a hospital at Sector 6, and was discharged in the evening. Till the filing of the report, the police and the NDRF team were trying to recover the vehicle with the help of a crane.