MADHYA PRADESH : A cop who played in River Pench all through his younger years, is now rescuing people drowning in River Narmada in Madhya Pradesh.
Hariom Singh Bains, a 48-year-old police head constable, has saved more than 200 lives in seven years from drowning in the famous Dhuandhar Waterfalls on River Narmada, in Jabalpur district’s Bhedaghat town. Dhuandhar waterfalls, known for its smoky waters and marble rocks, has seen an increasing number of people committing suicide or drowning due to accidents, over the past few years.
Guided by the mission of not letting people lose their lives in the famous waterfalls, Hariom, joined by five local youngsters, has saved 200-plus lives, out of which around 80% were suicide attempts.
Hailing from Chhindwara district, Hariom learnt the art of swimming and diving in the Pench River during his teenage years. He joined the MP Police as a constable in 2008 and since then has been posted in Jabalpur district. His first successful rescue operation happened in 2010, during his first posting at Jabalpur’s Bargi Nagar Chowki, when he formed an integral part of the overnight operations to rescue seven shepherds stranded on an island created by the swollen Temar River.
This operation earned him the reputation of being an expert life saver. Since then, he has struck an inseparable bond with the Dhuandhar falls.
In 2016, two nursing students from MP’s Satna district had jumped into the mammoth waterfall at around midnight. Without caring for his own life, Hariom jumped into the river and managed to save one of the girls, but the other was lost in the swollen river. This feat won him the coveted Jeevan Raksha Padak in 2018.
Just a year before saving the female nursing student from Satna district, Hariom had saved the life of a Jabalpur-based college going girl, who was hell bent on ending her life in the waterfalls.
Since 2015, five youngsters, Rajesh Bhumia, Guru Bhumia, Ashish, Sonu Barman and Ashish Bhumia (who are aged between 18 and 30 years) have teamed up with Hariom. Two of the five youngsters now have jobs of swimmers/rescuers with the Bhedaghat Nagar Parishad due to their life saving efforts. They had saved an elderly woman, and a middle-aged man from dying by suicide due to harassment by family, recently.
During his 15 years long posting at different police stations in Jabalpur district, Hariom has been posted at Bhedaghat police station from 2014-2018 and again from 2024 onwards. But even during his posting at Bargi and Tilwara police stations he was attached as special case for the life saving mission at Bhedaghat for around two years.
“He is our police’s jewel who has not just saved lives, but is the crucial link between local residents, tourists and police at the tourist spot”said Jabalpur DySP Sunil K Nema.