Home Guard jawans help woman delivery baby on river bank in rain-hit Chhattisgarh

Both the woman and the newborn are reportedly fine

A team of Home Guard jawans helped a tribal woman deliver a baby on the banks of a swollen river in Chhattisgarh's rain-hit Bijapur district on Sunday, police said.

The Home Guard personnel were involved in rescue work in the rain-affected areas of the district, when they were alerted about a woman who had to be shifted to a sub-health centre for delivery in the morning, a senior official said.

Also Read | Two Odisha districts reeling from floods as incessant rains batter the state

Sarita Gondi started experiencing labour pains even as the jawans were shifting her to a rescue boat to take her across a river near Jhorgaya village in Gangaloor tehsil of the district, he said.

The district administration had received a call from the family of the woman, who was in the advanced stages of pregnancy, seeking help to cross a river that flows along the village to reach a sub-health centre, he said.

The river was in spate due to the heavy rains that lashed the area since the last few days, the official said.

Also Read | 104 rain-related deaths reported in Maharashtra since onset of monsoon

The administration alerted the Home Guard office in Bijapur, following which the rescue team swung into action, he said.

The woman's family had brought her to the river bank on an indigenous bamboo stretcher. On reaching the spot, the rescue team attempted to move her to a boat, when she went into labour, the official said.

The woman gave birth on the stretcher itself, and both the newborn and the mother were taken across the river on a rescue boat and admitted to the sub-health centre in Reddy village, he said.

The woman and newborn were said to be fine, the official added.

Also Read | Heavy rains lash Kerala, 4 dead

A flood-like situation was witnessed in the interiors of Bijapur, Dantewada, Sukma and Narayanpur districts due to incessant downpour in the last few days and the backwater of Godavari river that flows along the border of Chhattisgarh and Telangana, officials said.

The Bastar division comprises seven districts - Bastar, Kanker, Kondgaon, Narayanpur, Dantewada, Bijapur and Sukma.

State Industries Minister Kawasi Lakhma on Saturday visited Bijapur and Sukma districts to take stock of the situation emerging out of the incessant rains.

District officials have been instructed to keep the rescue teams on alert to deal with emergencies, while officials of the revenue, district panchayat, janpad panchayat and forest departments have been asked to provide relief to the affected people, they said.