Horses come to fore in rescue of Hyderabad flood victims

Horses turned out to be saviours helping a group of good samaritans in taking relief materials, including food and rescuing marooned people in narrow streets and by-lanes, where boats could not venture during recent floods in the city.

Members of the Hyderabad Horse Riding School banded together and lent a helping hand to the personnel of Army, NDRF and police in reaching out to residents, whose houses were inundated following incessant rains last week.

The horseriders waded through chest-deep water, navigating obstructions such as electric poles, trees, to deliver essentials like milk and medicines to people.

Our horses came in handy at places where boats were unable to reach in view of electricity poles, parked vehicles, trees, and others, Md Abdul Wahab, President of Hyderabad Horse Riding School (HHRS) told PTI on Wednesday.

Relief activities were carried out at Nadeem colony, Virasat nagar, Balreddy nagar and others in Tolichowki for four days starting October 15.

The team deployed around 15 equines besides relief workers on the ground to carry out rescue and relief work, Wahab said.

The relief work involved a big team and required a lot of planning. Our team rescued citizens who were reluctant to move out of their homes, by convincing them, he added.

The horse riding school, established a decade ago, is run with a service motive and has also taken up Swachh Bharat work earlier.

The heavy rains have left 70 people dead in the state in the last one week and caused damage to properties with the state government pegging losses at over Rs 5,000 crore as per preliminary estimates.