A group of seven dogs, stranded on a patch of land in the middle of the overflowing Cauvery River near Mettur Dam for three days without food, were fed biryani via drone by fire and rescue services personnel on Friday. The dogs are expected to be rescued on Sunday.
Rescuers are waiting for the arrival of another drone with a 30kg carrying capacity to aid in the operation. The fire services have partnered with GEOTechnoValley, a company specializing in drone services, for this mission.
P Sarveswaran, director and CEO of GEOTechnoValley, stated, “We will assemble the drone on Saturday. Since it is Aadi 18, there will be a large crowd at the riverside.” The situation became known after a drone video showing the water gushing from the 16-channel sluice gates of Mettur Dam went viral on Thursday. Initially, the video only showed a black dog on the riverine islet created by the heavy flow in the Cauvery.
K P Venkatesan, house officer at Mettur fire station, reached out to Sarveswaran, who provides drone services every Aadi 18 in Mettur to drop life jackets for people caught in the currents. This led to the discovery of six additional dogs stranded there. It was found that when the outflow from Mettur Dam increased three days earlier, local residents had tried to chase the dogs away from the riverbank. Instead of moving away from the river, the dogs had retreated to the dry riverbed, which was subsequently covered by the released water.
On Sunday, officials plan to use a heavy-duty drone equipped with food in a cage-like structure. Once a dog enters the cage, the door will close, allowing the animal to be lifted from the islet, Sarveswaran explained.
