ELURU: A group of 31 fishermen, including 12 women, stuck in the floodwaters in the river Godavari near upper cofferdam of Polavaram Project on Friday morning, were rescued by NDRF teams with the help of the Indian Navy.
The stranded fishermen were airlifted to safety and later sent to their native place in Dowleswaram, East Godavari district, in the evening. Police officials assured the fishermen that their boats moored in the cofferdam would be restored to them once the floodwater recedes.
Earlier in the day, locals in Polavaram village and Gandi Pochamma temple area on the banks of Godavari noticed the fishermen shouting for help and struggling to control their boats from capsizing near the upper cofferdam. They immediately alerted the police and revenue officials, who in turn alerted the NDRF teams deployed for rescue and relief operation in the flood-affected areas.
The fishermen managed to climb atop the cofferdam near Gandi Pochamma temple but, in the process, lost one of their 10 boats. Locals near Gandi Pochamma temple tried in vain to rescue them due to strong water current.
The Navy dispatched two helicopters to airlift the fishermen as the rescue attempts using mechanised boats failed due to strong currents in the river. Three of the fishermen were reported to have fainted due to hunger.
Polavaram DSP M Venkateswarlu along with NDRF team reached Gandipochamma temple by road and from there managed to reach the place where the fishermen were stranded. Some of the fishermen, who were afraid of boarding the helicopter, were taken in the boat by the DSP and his men, while the rest were airlifted to Polavaram.
The fishermen are from Jalaripeta in Dowleswaram, East Godavari district. They went for fishing in the Godavari upstream Polavaram project in 10 motorboats 80 days ago. They embarked on their return journey 10 days ago as the river Godavari was swelling with floodwater.
On Friday, they started from Kunavaram to Dowleswaram in their boats but got stuck near the upper cofferdam and their boats started capsizing in the river. However, they managed to swim up to the cofferdam.