Daijiworld Media Network - Bantwal (SP)
Bantwal, May 26: The video of a team of daredevil divers jumping into Netravati river that was in full fury during the previous rainy season one after the other from the Netravati old bridge had become viral on social media. Many had, instead of hailing the conviction and commitment of the young boys, criticised them for undertaking dangerous stunts without proper thought and that they should not have done it.
On May 24 this year, a youth had tried to end his life by jumping into River Netravati. The same young men, without thinking twice, jumped into the river from the bridge and tried to save his life. This video also has become viral. This time around, the people have recognized the service-oriented adventure of the youngsters and come out with a lot of appreciation.
The two incidents are totally different. But the set of young men who jumped into the river were almost the same. In the first instance, they were criticized while for the second, they are being held in high esteem. This time around, the boys had tried to save the life of Nishanth from Kolakeeru near Kalladka who tried to kill himself by jumping into the river because of a financial crisis.
The divers were celebrating Eid-ul-Fitr when they came to know about the young man diving into the river. They immediately followed the youth into the river. Afridi from Goodinabali, who was returning after visiting his sister's house on account of the festival, had tipped the young men after witnessing the suicide attempt. Muhammed, Zaheer, Muqtar, Sameer and Tauseef ran to the spot and jumped into the river from the bridge. They succeeded in bringing the youth to the riverbank. Arif even tried mouth to mouth resuscitation overlooking corona fear. They provided first aid to the boy and admitted him into the hospital. However, unfortunately, the youth did not survive for long thereafter.
For this team of expert divers, this was not the first rescue operation involving them. The team had saved the lives of a woman and a dog after a family from Mysuru jumped into the river from Netravati bridge. The same team was in action when Cafe Coffee Day owner, V G Siddhartha, jumped into the river. One of the divers, Muhammed, said that they have saved many people who tried to end their lives in Netravati river and that the local administration contacts them whenever they are in need of emergency rescue operation. He, however, lamented the fact that they have not been provided with any protective gear by the government so far.