In a heroic gesture, a 42-year-old man saved a woman and her two daughters from drowning while he was carrying out the last rites of one of his relatives at Kalu River near Sangam village.
The man, Anil Gondhali of Manivali village in Murbad, saw the three falling into the water while washing clothes at the weir built on the river on Thursday at 11am. Gondhali was half-a-kilometre away but still jumped into the river, swam towards them and managed to pull all the three out.
The three were unconscious and were taken to a hospital and were discharged on Saturday after being on oxygen support for three days. Gondhali was felicitated for his bravery by the Murbad police.
The government authorities built a weir at Kalu River near Sangam village recently where women from the nearby villages wash clothes. The weir is 15 feet deep and less than a kilometre wide. At one side of the river bank is a temple and women wash their clothes on the other side.
Gondhali, a farmer and Kirtankar (folk singer), was near the temple for the final rites of a deceased relative. He was around 200m away from the bank and heard people shouting for help after the three fell in the river. He ran to the bank and jumped in to swim towards the other side as 200-300 people watched from the bank.
He usually swam in the well but this was his first time he was swimming in a river. He said, “One of the girls slipped in the river and to save her, the other two jumped in. However, the water was deep and all three started drowning. Hundreds of people were watching and shouting to save the girls. I was blank for a few seconds and just closed my eyes and jumped in. I didn’t have any experience of swimming in a river but I believed the Almighty would give me strength. The water was steady, so the pressure was less. I first pulled the mother and then jumped in to save the girls. The girls had lost their breath by the time I pulled them.”
Some youngsters from Sangam village reached the other side and helped him pull the girls. “We tried pumping their chest but they were unconscious. With the help of two youngsters, we took them 6km away to Kinhavli government hospital on two bikes. The doctors pumped out all the water and saved them.”
Prasad Pandhare, Murbad police station senior inspector, said, “We received a call from residents informing us of the incident. By the time our team reached, the woman and girls were pulled out of the water and taken to the hospital. We wanted to appreciate the courage of Gondhali and decided to felicitate him. So many accidents happen near rivers, but no one has done such inspirational work. We always have to call a rescue team.”
The drowned women are the wife (Seema, 38) and daughters (Ashwini, 13, and Rani, 14) of Gurunath Dalvi, 40, a plumber.
“I had just left them at 11am and got a call at around 11.30am about their drowning. I was shocked for a few minutes and rushed to the hospital. The doctor told me all three were on oxygen support. They are discharged now. I am happy as they are my only family. I managed to find Gondhali’s number and thanked him. After the three recuperate, we will personally go and meet him.”