Army rescues pregnant lady in flood-affected Kolhapur

New Delhi [India], Aug 8 (ANI): The army personnel on Thursday rescued a pregnant lady from flood-affected Kowad village in Kolhapur district.
"The Army personnel rescued 24 personnel including a pregnant lady stranded for more than 72 hours at Kowad village in Kolhapur district. A large number of troops from Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard have been deployed to facilitate rescue and relief operations in concerted with NDRF and SDRF," stated an official release from Defense PRO.
Incessant rains have resulted in widespread flooding in Southern Maharashtra, Karnataka and Northern Kerala.
A Joint Operations Center (JOC) has been established at Dakshin Maharashtra and Goa Sub Area, Pune for coordinating the relief and rescue operations being carried out by the Armed Forces in all the three states.
"The Army has deployed 16 Columns, 14 Engineer Task Forces including a Para Special Force team for ongoing flood relief and rescue operations in Kolhapur, Sangli and Raigarh districts of Maharashtra and Bagalkot, Raichur, Belgaum and Kodagu districts of Karnataka," the release stated.
Additional troops have also been requisitioned for carrying out flood reliefs operations in the area of Gulbarga in North Karnataka and Wayanad district of Kerala.
"Around 3500 persons have been rescued and 10000 persons have been evacuated from marooned and flooded areas. They have been provided with medical aid and food packets," the release further stated.
A Special Engineer Task Force is being airlifted from Jodhpur to Belgaum for further enhancement of the ongoing rescue operations.
In Maharashtra as per government's record, a total of 132,360 people of 28,397 families have been evacuated from Sangli, Satara, Pune, Kolhapur, and Solapur districts following heavy rainfall in the areas.
In Karnataka, more than 90 people were evacuated from 13 villages in Kodagu district and sheltered in relief camps due to flooding following heavy rainfall here on Wednesday.
The heavy rainfall has also cut off road connectivity and disrupted power supply in several parts in Kodagu district. Mangaluru and Kerala routes have also been blocked due to landslides
In Kerala, two Army columns were moved to Wayanad and Virajpet to assist rescue and relief operations being carried out by National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) which rescued 15 people stranded in floods caused by the benny halla drain on the newly constructed bridge between the villages Annigeri and Hubli talukas. (ANI)