Man falls into swollen Krishna river, rescued 

VIJAYAWADA:  Timely intervention of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel saved a person from drowning after he accidentally fell in River Krishna on Wednesday. Ponnuru Sudhakar (38), owner of a small business in Tenali, had reportedly come to Vijayawada in the morning in connection with his business. After finishing his work at the One-town wholesale market, he went to Prakasam Barrage around 12.45 pm to witness the ongoing Ganesh immersion celebrations at Padmavathi Ghat. 

Sudhakar was clicking pictures of the immersion from the Barrage road when he slipped and fell into the river from the parapet wall. Noticing him drowning, an NDRF personnel, Naresh Sonia, acted quickly and jumped into the river to rescue him. Other NDRF personnel with lifebuoys rushed and rescued the man. “We reacted and rescued him within five minutes of the incident.

He was shifted to the government hospital for necessary treatment,” NDRF commandant Z Khan said.
What really made the rescue operation tough was the heavy flow of floodwater released from the barrage. Following heavy inflows from the upstream, all the 70-gates of Prakasam Barrage were opened on Monday and a large volume of floodwater was released downstream. 

“From September 3, NDRF personnel are deployed on the spot to respond to all untoward incidents during the processions for Ganesh idol immersion. Sudhakar fell from the 20 feet roadside wall in the 
15-feet deep Krishna river. Luckily, he was safe and was not injured,” the commandant added.