With ropes meant to pull fallen trees, cops saved 3 lives from Velachery pit

CHENNAI: Traffic head constable J Prabhakaran (47) was on duty at the junction on Five Furlong Road in Velachery on Monday when he heard a commotion. It was the cave-in at an under-construction site that opened a 60-foot-deep pit where two people were buried underwater for over 100 hours. Their bodies were fished out on Friday.

“Initially, I was unsure of what was happening. Within seconds, I alerted my senior officials and our team rushed to the scene,” recalled Prabhakaran.

When he reached the spot as the first responder, all he had was a rope that the traffic police personnel keep handy during monsoon to pull fallen trees.

With the help of a couple of members of the public, Prabhakaran managed to lift two people, Seetharaman and Rahul, with bare hands and ropes. Though the visibility was low due to continuous downpour, the police could hear cries for help. By that time, Additional Commissioner (Traffic), R Sudhakar, too, reached the scene and the city police’s emergency rescue vehicle, Vehicle for Extrication in Emergency Rescue and Accidents (VEERA) was pressed into service. Using the long rope in VEERA, the personnel pulled off another man who was struggling to get to the ground, even as the pit was filling fast with water.

“Before monsoon, we identify spots where severe waterlogging happens and deploy personnel there to divert motorists. Prabhakaran was on traffic management duty, as Five Furlong Road always gets waterlogged. Also, all our traffic patrol cars have a power saw, ropes to pull fallen trees, crowbars and traffic cones. Our preparation came in handy to save lives,” said Sudhakar.

While there were cries about there being others from the LPG bunk who was still caught under, the water was fast filling the 60 feet pit to the brim. Even as the personnel were lifting the last person they could see, the soil under the bunk floor was fast eroding in the rapid current of floodwaters.

“It was like a waterfall,” said Assistant Commissioner (Traffic) Julius Christopher, recalling how water was gushing into the pit from all sides. “We had an apprehension whether the bunk itself would collapse and lead to a blast or something,” said another officer.

Head constable Prabhakaran told DT Next that he has not done anything like this before in his career. He does not know what came over him that he acted immediately despite the risk. “Only after watching a video which my colleagues shared, I realised what I did,” he said.