Bhadrak: As floods wreaked havoc in Odisha, a farmer climbed a pam tree in a desperate bid to save himself from gushing floodwaters, was trapped there for around 24 hours before an ODRAF team rescued him on Thursday.
According to information, the dramatic incident took place in Gundicha Sahi village under Nandigaon Panchayat in Dhamnagar block of flood-hit Bhadrak district.
The farmer, identified as Trilochan Sahu, had gone to his paddy field when he was suddenly surrounded by rising floodwaters. Finding no other way, he climbed a tall palm tree to save his life.
The farmer remained stranded on the tree from around 10 am on Wednesday till Thursday morning, battling hunger and fear for almost 24 hours.
Unable to contact him, his family grew anxious. His son, Saroj Sahu, called Minister Suryabanshi Suraj, who is the MLA from Dhamnagar, and informed him about the situation.
The Minister immediately assigned the responsibility to the Dhamnagar Sub-Divisional Police Officer. After an extensive search operation throughout the night by three ODRAF teams, the farmer was finally located.
Finally, a joint team of ODRAF and local administration successfully rescued Trilochan from the palm tree on Thursday morning. The rescued farmer is reported to be in stable condition.
