Farmer, 52, swept away in Upper Wardha canal at Tiwsa; search on since yesterday

A 52-year-old farmer was swept away in the main canal of the Upper Wardha dam, which passes through Tiwsa town in Amravati district, amid a strong flow of water. He has been identified as Pintu alias Diwakar Mahore. The administration has been searching for him since yesterday, but no clue to his whereabouts has been found so far.

Water has been released into the main canal of the Upper Wardha dam for the rabi season. Around noon yesterday, Mahore went to the canal. He climbed down to wash his hands and feet, and his foot suddenly slipped.

The flow in the canal was very strong. Mahore was pulled into the current in an instant and disappeared. Local residents nearby shouted for help as soon as the accident happened, but the water was moving too fast and was also quite deep, and those present could not save him.

On receiving news of the accident, the local administration and people associated with emergency services reached the spot immediately. Since yesterday, the administration's rescue team has been running a search operation on a war footing to find Mahore in the canal.

The search is facing a major difficulty. Both the discharge and the speed of the water released into the canal for the rabi crop are very high, and this is causing considerable obstacles to the rescue work.

The administration has now intensified the search along both banks of the canal and also in the direction of the water's flow. The teams are moving forward along the banks to look for Mahore.

The incident has cast a pall of deep grief over the entire Tiwsa area. People are hoping that the search will soon yield some word of him.