NDRF rescues Indian cricket star Radha Yadav amid severe flooding in Gujarat
Vadodara: Amidst relentless downpours and severe flooding across several cities in Gujarat, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) successfully rescued Indian Women’s Cricket Team left-arm spinner, Radha Yadav, from a precarious situation in Vadodara. The cricketer shared her ordeal on Instagram, expressing gratitude to the NDRF for their timely intervention.
Radha Yadav posted a video on her Instagram story on Wednesday, showing NDRF officials rescuing a group of people, including herself, in a boat. The footage captured the aftermath of the Vishwamitri River breaching its banks, which resulted in widespread flooding across low-lying areas of Vadodara.
"We are stuck in a very bad situation. We are so grateful to the #NDRF for saving us," Radha Yadav wrote in her Instagram story, highlighting the gravity of the situation. The cricketer's residence was among the many affected by the sudden surge of floodwaters that submerged roads, buildings, and vehicles across the city.
Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan also took to social media, urging residents of Vadodara to remain indoors amid the flooding. "Stay safe, Baroda. Flooding is widespread, so please stay indoors for your own safety," Pathan advised on the microblogging platform X.
The intense rainfall in Gujarat has created havoc across various regions, particularly in the Saurashtra area. Between 50 mm and 200 mm of rain was recorded in districts like Devbhumi Dwarka, Jamnagar, Rajkot, and Porbandar within a 12-hour period ending at 6 pm on Wednesday. The Bhanvad taluka of Devbhumi Dwarka district experienced the heaviest downpour, receiving 185 mm of rainfall during this period.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted that the Saurashtra region will continue to experience heavy rainfall, with some districts expected to receive very heavy rain on Thursday.
In response to the crisis, the NDRF, along with the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and three Army columns, launched extensive rescue operations across the affected areas. Over 17,800 people have been evacuated to safer locations, and an additional 2,000 individuals have been rescued from their homes and rooftops in Vadodara city alone, officials reported.
The Indian Army, Air Force, and Coast Guard have also been deployed to assist in the rescue and relief efforts. Despite these measures, the situation remains dire, with rain-related accidents claiming up to 26 lives over the past three days. Fatalities were reported in districts including Rajkot, Anand, Mahisagar, Kheda, Ahmedabad, Morbi, Junagadh, and Bharuch. On Tuesday alone, nine people lost their lives in various rain-related incidents, including wall collapses and drownings.
The star spinner of women Indian cricket team Radha Yadav took to social media to share that she was in a ‘very bad! pic.twitter.com/e1dRU6c1Tt
— Daddyscore (@daddyscore) August 29, 2024
Stay safe, Baroda. Flooding is widespread, so please stay indoors for your own safety.
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) August 28, 2024
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
