Dramatic Rescue By IAF After Man Held On To Tree For 16 Hours At Bilaspur Dam In Chhattisgarh

In dramatic visuals, a man sits on a boulder and holds on to the branch of a tree as water gushes out of an overflowing dam. He held on to the tree for 16 hours until an Indian Air Force (IAF) chopper rescued him on the morning of August 17. The man was airlifted from Khutaghat Dam near Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh. The 34-year-old man had jumped off a bridge into the swelling water of the dam but couldn’t swim out of it due to heavy rains. The dam is a popular picnic spot which saw a number of visitors on August 16, Sunday. Levels of most water bodies in the state have risen. Rivers like the Sabari are in spate as heavy rainfall pounded Chhattisgarh for the last few days. Parts of Sukma district & surrounding areas have been flooded. An alert has also been issued in the areas affected by Godavari river. On August 16, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel directed all district officials and the police to stay alert in view of the continuous rainfall. Several villages in the interior areas have been cut off.