A man who was washed away in the floods in Cauvery luckily survived by climbing on to a tree top on Sunday afternoon.
Three local fishermen (coracle riders) who jumped to save the stranded victim also had to take refuge atop another nearby tree as the water level kept increasing.
Sources in the revenue department told The Hindu that a 45-year-old D. Madhaiyan of Sellankottai near Bandaalli village in Dharmapuri was washed away in the river. He luckily survived after he caught hold of a tree branch and quickly climbed on to it around 1.45 p.m. on Sunday.
As soon as Madhaiyan managed to reach a tree top, he waved seeking help from the police personnel deployed along the banks of the river.
The local fishermen G. Muthu, M. Ramakrishnan and R. Sahadeven of Ootamalai who jumped in to the river in a bid to rescue the victim had to climb on top of another tree as the force of the water was not manageable to swim across to safety.
Soon after hearing the information, personnel from Police, Fire and Rescue and revenue departments reached the spot around 2.30 p.m. and commenced the rescue operations. Meanwhile, Dhramapuri Collector K. Vivekanandan and Superintendent of Police Asra Garg are co-ordinating the rescue measures. Mr. Vivekanandan told The Hindu that a team from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) stationed at Arakkonam was rushing to Hogenakkal by road on the request of the district administration.
