As he rowed an amphibious assault boat up a flooded driveway of a residential complex in water-logged Eloor in Ernakulam on Independence Day, Captain Rishav Jamwal of the 13 Garhwal Rifles saw a strained community on edge.
“It was raining. The residents in the swamped neighbourhood sounded anxious and angry. They all wanted to be rescued first, and at once,” Captain Jamwal told The Hindu over the telephone from ground zero.
The flood, it appeared, had also swept away the sense of security and stability of the residents. Many were marooned on the first floor of their homes, believing that they could sit the crisis out. However, panic set in when the waters continued to rise, electricity connection failed, and families found themselves cut off the from the rest of the world.
They had to make the hard choice of either staying trapped in their homes or clambering on to the rescue boat and heading for an uncertain future that seemed fraught with difficulties.
“We could fully understand their emotions,” he said.
The Ghatak Platoon, a hardened special forces unit trained to function as shock troops in combat, had been deployed into locality on Tuesday night at the request of the State government. They had only two flat-bottomed boats at their disposal. They used gangplanks fashioned from salvaged flotsam to help the stranded residents get down from their perches to the rescue boats.
The soldiers then towed the boats through the fast flowing waist-high water to high-ground. The Army gave priority to women and children. By Friday morning, the 21-strong unit had rescued over 500 citizens stranded in Eloor and adjoining localities.
Captain Jamwal said the initial negative feeling of people dissipated once the Army saved them. A sense of appreciation and respect replaced the one of abandonment and anger. “For us soldiers, there was no better Independence Day gift,” he said.
