Four persons stranded on island rescued after 13-hour operation

Four people stuck on an island in the swollen Narmada river near Bhedaghat in Madhya Pradesh’s Jabalpur district were rescued on Monday morning by the NDRF after a more than 13-hour operation, police said.
The four persons, belonging to Garhapurva in Jabalpur town, went to the spot for fishing on Sunday afternoon, Bhedaghat police station in-charge Shafiq Khan said. They got stuck on the island following a sudden rise in the Narmada river level due to heavy rainfall in the upstream areas, Additional Superintendent of Police (Rural) Shivesh Singh Baghel said.
The stranded persons were provided food and life jackets through a drone in the night, he said. The rescue operation was launched at around 5 p.m. on Sunday and ended by 6.30 a.m. on Monday, Khan said. The persons, identified as Santosh Kevat, Manish Kevat, Shubham Kevat, and Amit Kevat, had gone fishing on the island situated near Dhuandhar waterfall and were having food when the water level rose suddenly, trapping them on the island, he said.
The district administration soon launched a rescue operation with the help of home guards and local police, but a rescue boat was unable to reach the island due to the rising water level, the official said. A team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) reached the spot in the early hours of Monday, and as the water level receded, they were rescued with the help of a rope and life jackets, he said.