41 pilgrims rescued after nine hour long operation in Bharuch

Vadodara: All the 41 pilgrims aboard a boat that got stuck in the shallow waters near Aliya Bet in Bharuch district about 100 kms from Vadodara last evening were rescued after a nine hour long operation in the wee hours of today, a senior district official said.

“Boat carrying pilgrims from MP, Maharashtra and Gujarat stuck at a place where Narmada river meets the Arabian Sea near Hansot in Bharuch district at around 6 PM yesterday.

It was going from Vamleswar to Jageswar (religious places on the way of Narmada Parikrama),” Bharuch District Collector S Sagaale told PTI.

The official added that all the pilgrims were rescued by 3 AM today. “The boat stuck in shallow waters after the rotator of the boat got damaged. The administration pressed 9 boats into service to rescue the pilgrims. However, these boats were unable to reach near the stuck boat due to shallow waters,” said Sagaale.

The local population too helped in this rescue operation, he said, adding, fire fighters from Vadodara and one team of National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) too were summoned for the rescue operations.

“The teams were able to pull out the pilgrims only during the high tide at around 3 AM,” said the Collector.

These rescued pilgrims were later taken to an Ashram (place for stay of pilgrims) at Lovara near Aliya bet.

The pilgrims will begin the parikrama later today, said Sagaale.

PTI