Kolhapur villagers celebrate Rakshabandhan with NDRF for saving lives

Villagers tied rakhi on the wrists of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel on Tuesday for saving their lives from the raging floods in the region.

"We have immense gratitude for the NDRF Jawans as they have saved our lives. At this time they are away from their families and engaged in saving our lives and thus they deserve our respect," Sukanya Patil, a village Sarpanch said.

"I have a sister and being in the forces I am unable to visit my family. We are very happy that we have sisters here also. We have managed to thwart the flood to a great extent here in the Kolhapur district," Nitish Kumar, an NDRF Jawan said.

The death toll due to floods and heavy rainfall in Pune division has reached 43 while three persons are missing, an official statement said on Tuesday.

As per the statement from the Divisional Commissioner's office here, at least 4,74,226 people have been rescued from 584 villagers and evacuated to temporary 596 shelters in Pune, Sangli, Kolhapur, Satara and Solapur districts.

Meanwhile, the NDRF teams continue the rescue and relief operations in Shirol and Kolhapur. They carried fodder as an emergency measure for animals.

On August 11, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis took a detailed review meeting with the chief secretary, senior officials from resettlement and rehabilitation (R & R), disaster management department and other concerned officials at Ministry Control Room.