20 years, 356 lives saved, 1,700 bodies fished out – this is the track record of Bhagwandeen Nishad, the “saviour of Saryu”, who is on a mission to keep the Ayodhya river clean. Despite no professional training in swimming, Nishad, from the fishermen community, is the quickest of them all.
STARTING YOUNG
The 35-year-old first rescued a man at the age of 15.
“There was a Shambhu Nishad in our locality. We grew up seeing him rescue people. In 2003, while I was taking a bath in the river, I spotted a drowning person. Back then, I was hardly able to swim. I was just 15. I saved the man using a stick. That day I got famous. When asked who saved the drowning man’s life, people kept saying, “Bhagwaan ne bachaya hai”. I liked it, as there is ‘Bhagwan’ in my name too. That is how I took to this vocation,” Bhagwandeen told News18.
NOT A CHILD’S PLAY
Bhagwandeen says that rescuing is not an easy task. “One has to be 24-hour ready as you never know when you will get the next call. I don’t have any social commitments. There are instances when you get a call in winters and you have to dive into water, when the temperature is five or even three degree Celsius,” says Bhagwandeen. “Fetching dead bodies that are in a decayed state is also tough with the extreme stink.”
Bhagwandeen says he doesn’t have a health insurance or safety gear. “I am thankful to God that he never let me fail in my attempt. It is God’s gift and hence I am trying to utilize it to serve humanity. I never charge a single penny from anyone, I do it purely out of seva bhav,” says Bhagwandeen, explaining how he learned the tag of “saviour”.
LEFT AILING MOTHER FOR RESCUE CALL
Bhagwandeen says the toughest moment in his 20-year-old service was when he had to leave his mother on her deathbed to attend to a rescue call. “It was around two years ago when my mother suffered brain hemorrhage. At the same time, I got a rescue call. I went to attend the call and asked my brother to take my mother to the hospital,” he says. After two days, his mother passed away. “The regret of not being with my mother at her last moment is killing,” he added.
THE GROUP OF 42
Inspired by Nishad, other youths from Ayodhya and neighbouring districts have joined him. “We have 42 youths in our group, who carry out the rescue operations, even at places where the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams are unable to reach,” he says.
In 2005, he said that he and other divers from Ayodhya got the status of ‘state divers’ and were promised Rs 500 remuneration per month. But nothing has happened so far. “I appeal to the UP government to give us a fixed salary for the selfless work we do for the welfare of society.”
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