Karnataka kayaker saves 70 from flash floods

When all seemed to have lost for Udupi villages at the mercy of flash floods, hope came floating on a kayak. Kayaker Mohammed Imthiaz Kemmannu has rescued more than nearly 70 people in the last few days, and over 250 people over the last few years. Imthiaz, 44, provides kayaking services to tourists, but is also a member of the Shri Kshetra Dharmasthala Rural Development Project’s disaster management team. “On July 6, when the fire and emergency department could not reach an isolated house in Nittoor, I rescued two elderly persons stranded there,” he said. He rescues mainly the ailing or elderly, along with women and children using his kayak. His hardest rescue ever was an elderly, bed-ridden patient who had to be moved to hospital from his flooded home.