It was a battle against time. Four-hundred patients, some of them critically ill and on life support, were isolated at Muthoot Hospital, Kozhenchery, on the bank of the Pampa river in flood-hit Pathanamthitta district.
An almost apocalyptic onslaught of rising floodwater and pummelling rain had choked off access to the hospital since Wednesday night. Cut off from the rest of the world, the institution ran short of power, food, medicines and water. Doctors struggled to keep patients alive. Panic set in. When all was considered lost, help arrived in the form of the Indian Army.
Lt Danish Farooqi, Column Commander of the 13 Garhwal Rifles, reached the locality with 73 hardened soldiers in tow. They had row boats, life jackets, water, food, entrenching tools, and a doctor. The unit scouted the flooded neighbourhood and cobbled together a relief and rescue plan.
Lt. Danish told The Hindu that the unit found the ground floor of the hospital almost submerged. “The water was 8-10-ft high and flowing fast,” he said. Braving the current, the soldiers rowed to the hospital. They used stout ropes to create a “tow-path” between the hospital and dry land. By 11 a.m., the Army reached the first batch of patients to safety.
By 6 p.m., the 13th Garhwal had evacuated 80 patients. Another 320 remain stranded, and the operation was still under way.
Lt Col Arvind Kumar has now reinforced the rescue effort with more men and boats.
