TIRUCHY: A 60-year-old homeless man, who had entered the Kollidam river near No 1 Tollgate in Tiruchy for sleeping on Wednesday night, was rescued by the Srirangam firefighters on Thursday morning after being stuck in the middle pier of the bridge for more than five hours due to heavy flow of water.
According to sources, S Sasikumar (60), a beggar, hails from Mummudi Cholamangalam village in Lalgudi block. On Wednesday night, Sasikumar had entered into the Kollidam River on Tiruchy-Chennai National Highway near the No 1 Tollgate and was sleeping under the bridge.
Later, he had been waiting at the middle pier of the bridge since 1 am on Thursday as the water level in the river continued to rise due to the release of water from the Mukkombu regulator.
"Sasikumar, who was standing at the bridge pier, was not able to reach the river bank because of the heavy flow of water. Stuck on the bridge pier throughout the night, Sasikumar tried to attract the attention of people on the bridge at No 1 Tollgate, but no one could hear him, " said an official from the fire department
Around 6 am on Thursday, S Jayakumar from Thiruvanaikoil who was walking on the bridge noticed him and alerted the Srirangam fire department about this. On receiving the information, the firefighters team of C Arunkumar and special fire officer S Ganesan led by Station Fire Officer L Sagayaraj reached the spot and began the rescue operation.
"Due to the flow of water, we had a tough time rescuing Sasikumar. Firefighter Arun Kumar went down from the bridge to save him with ropes. After about a one-hour operation, we managed to rescue him safely with the help of ropes." the official said
He was stuck in water for about 65000 cubic feet of water.
Meanwhile, due to the increase in water flow in Mukkombu, water was also opened in the Kollidam River. A portion of the bed protection wall of the Kollidam bridge collapsed at Srirangam on Wednesday night due to the high water flow.