BALLARI: Two persons, a father and a son, who had gone to extract sand from the river under the cover of darkness, were washed away in the water, which was released from Tungabhadra dam. The incident occurred in the wee hours of Friday at Bagewadi village in Siraguppa taluk.
Rafiq, 36 along with his sons Ishaq, 6 and Saddam and other residents of Bagewadi village had gone to extract sand from the river bed. When the water was released from the dam, they were stranded in between the river course along with their bullock cart. However, in the process of trying to reach the banks, the father and son were swept away by fast-moving currents, while another son, Saddam managed to reach the banks holding on to a floating piece of wood, while the others managed to swim to the banks. The bullocks, which were abandoned and were found struggling to reach the banks of the river, were rescued by a few villagers.
According to villagers and the Police, Rafiq used to go to extract sand in the cover of darkness every day. The district administration had alerted the people in the low lying areas to be alert and not to venture into the river.
This is the first casualty claimed by the sudden release of water. The Siraguppa Police has rushed to the spot. The dam authorities have released more than 50,000 cusecs of water since yesterday night.