Himachal rains: Ten people trapped in reservoir rescued after night-long operation

Shimla, Aug 21 (PTI) Ten people, who were trapped in the reservoir at the Kol Dam Hydel Project in Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi district, have been rescued by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) after an overnight operation, officials said on Monday.

Five employees of the forest department were among the 10 rescued.

A large number of logs had floated into the reservoir following heavy rains in the past few days and the five employees along with some locals had gone to take stock of the situation.

However, their boat got trapped due to heavy silt and logs near Tattapani, they said.

A team of the 14 Battalion of the NDRF left for the site in a steamer boat of the dam authority around 11:30 pm on Sunday night while one of the NDRF swimmers anchored the boat.

The rescue operation was completed around 2:30 am, officials said.

It was a difficult operation as navigation became tough during the night. All the ten people have been rescued safely, Deputy Commissioner, Mandi, Arindam Chaudhary, who was at the spot, told PTI.