In a commendable act of courage, two young men risked their lives to save eight people, including five women, from drowning in Hemavathy River at Akkihebbal in the taluk yesterday.

According to eyewitnesses, yesterday, eight men and women were washing clothes on the banks of river near Sri Lakshminarasimha Temple in the Hemavathy River basin in their village, which falls under K.R. Pet taluk of Mandya district. Around 4 pm, the sluice Gates of Gorur, Hemavathy Dam were opened without any warning. Over 5,000 cusecs of water was released from the dam.

Following this, there was a sudden surge in water level and water quickly swelled up around the villagers. With nowhere to go, the villagers started screaming for help. All the eight persons slipped into the stream and were being washed away by strong currents. At this point, Ravi, son of Krishnegowda and Lokesh, the son of Bheema Naik of Akkihebbal Village jumped into the river hearing screams of people drowning in the river.

Villagers said that 24-year-old Ravi and Lokesh, who were grazing cattle near the river bank, realising that the water level was rising rapidly, asked the villagers to move to the rocks nearby. He asked some of the villagers to get some tyre tubes and some rope. The villagers also sent word to firemen for help.

By the time the firemen arrived, the youths rescued all the eight villagers. They inflated the tubes and swam towards the villagers with the rope. One by one, they brought them ashore without thinking twice about their own safety.

The youths managed to pull out all the eight persons Lathamani, Komala, Mahadevamma, Rajamani, Shobha, Cheluvanayaka, Lakshman and Shekhar from the surging river. Tahsildar K. Rathna has recommended the names of the youths to the District Administration for official recognition of their brave act.

Protest: After the rescue operation, the villagers staged a flash protest and blocked Akkihebbal Road for a while. They alleged that the dam authorities did not inform them about the release of water. However, the Irrigation Department said it had informed the authorities about the planned release of water.

The Officers were asked to do a better job of informing locals in future. The K.R. Pet Rural Police have registered a case in this connection.