Lucknow2 hours agoAuthor: Devanshu Tiwari
Shripal Nishad…Name the person who saved 1011 people who wanted to die themselves. People used to jump into the Gomti river to commit suicide, but at the last moment Shripal reached to save them. Not only this, he took out more than 1500 dead bodies from the river and handed them over to the police. They do not get any salary for this work. Yes, respect is definitely received.
Dainik Bhaskar’s team reached the point of Gomti river, where maximum number of suicide attempts took place in the last one year. We spoke to Shripal and his fellow divers. Get up close to his experiences working among the dead. Let us tell you his complete story. Started with an incident 4 days ago.
25 January 2023… at 12:30 pm. Shripal and his brother Ramshankar Nishad sat down to eat on the banks of the Gomti riverfront in Lucknow. Meanwhile, he saw a girl running fast towards the river. She stopped on reaching the second dome. By the time he stopped, Shripal had understood the whole matter. They shouted at him to back off. The girl did not agree. She climbed the dome and jumped into the river from a height of 50 feet.
Shripal ran away leaving the food. Asked Ramshankar, sitting next to him, to bring a boat and jumped into the river. He kept searching for the girl under water for 3 minutes. He swam to the place where the bubbles were coming out in the water. The girl was sobbing. Shripal caught hold of her hair and brought her to the upper edge of the water. ‘I don’t want to live…let me drown. Leave me. The girl kept shouting but Shripal did not leave. Till then Ramshankar reached there with a boat. The girl was taken out. Police reached the spot. On investigation, it was found that the girl had been cheated in love. That’s why she doesn’t want to live.
Duty from 6 am to 7 pm, phone remains on for 24 hours
Every year in Lucknow, more than 100 people jump into Gomti with the intention of committing suicide. Many of these do not survive, while some are saved by the divers present on the banks of the river. Like Shripal, there are about 25 divers in Lucknow who do this dangerous job like their forefathers. Some of these fast-paced divers were arrested by the UP Police. ‘special police officer’ got the status of Shripal is also one of them.
Showing his card, Shripal says, “There is duty from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. on the banks of the river. The phone has to be on 24 hours. Our numbers are given at all the police stations in Lucknow. Reaching the spot even when I get a call, I have done rescue by going down 15 feet in water even in 9 degree temperature during cold.
Shripal has been doing diving work on the banks of Gomti since 30 years. During his duty, he saved the lives of more than 1000 people. At the same time, more than 1500 dead bodies have been removed. Shripal’s father Ramchander Nishad was also an old diver of Lucknow. His duty used to be on the pucca bridge built by the British. He passed away in the year 2013.
‘I did my duty even on the day of my son’s death’
There are 6 people in Shripal’s family. Wife, 2 boys and girls. The eldest son Vikas died in a road accident in 2019. Shripal was on duty when Vikas died.
Shripal says, “It was March 31, 2019. My son was talking to someone on his mobile outside the house. Suddenly a speeding car hit him. Vikas fell 20 meters away. We took him to the trauma center. They took him but he died due to profuse bleeding. Preparations were being made to keep the son’s body in the mortuary, then I got a call from Gomtinagar police station that a girl had jumped into the river. I left my wife there and went on duty. Gone.”
When I reached there, half an hour had passed since the girl had jumped into the river. Went to the river but by then it was too late. I took out the dead body from the river and handed it over to the police and went back to perform the last rites of my son. There was no worse day in my life than that day.
Now let’s stop here. Before moving on to Shripal’s story, let’s go through the statistics related to drowning deaths…
Went to save life, saved himself from death
While rescuing people drowning in the river, the lives of the divers are also in danger. The weight of a body immersed in water for a long time doubles. Because of this, rescue by going deep sometimes proves fatal for the divers as well.
Diver Ramesh says, “We divers can hold our breath for 3 to 4 minutes in the water. Despite this, there was a danger of dying all the time. Last year, a woman jumped into the river near the Daliganj bridge. They jumped into the river to retrieve the dead body. He was bringing the body to the shore by holding the hair. But due to the heavy weight of the dead body, his balance deteriorated. Both started going into the depth of the river. Somehow they were brought out with the help of a rope.”
One such incident has happened in the year 2020 with diver Ram Shankar. He tells that a boy jumped into the river near Gomti barrage. Even after a long search, his body could not be found. Me and Shripal reached the spot on being called by the police near it. Both found his dead body after 40 minutes. But, while lifting the dead body, the rebar fixed on the stone in the river entered near my chest. Later on, he started splashing in the water. The scar of that injury is still present on my chest.
Showing the mark of injury, Ram Shankar says, “If Shripal Bhaiya had not been with him that day, he would not have survived today.”
This is the mark of the injury when the rebar had entered Ramshankar’s chest during the rescue.
While removing the dead body, the eyes turned red but safety equipment was not found.
Diver Shripal says, “On receiving a call from the police, one has to go to Lucknow, Barabanki, Sitapur and Unnao to retrieve the dead body. Still, the divers are not provided with any safety equipment. Foul-smelling water from drains also falls in the river at many places. Dirty water.” It is a difficult task to go in and hold the breath and find the dead body. There is also a risk of disease in this.
He further says that the water of Gomti is so bad that the eyes have turned red while taking out the dead body. We do not get any reward for doing this work. Yes… Sometimes the police do hand over 300 to 500 rupees for taking out the dead body.
Divers who are always ready to jump into the river to help the police do not get any special facilities. Divers Shripal, Ramshankar, Ramesh and Ajit are deployed on the 3 main bridges of Gomti riverfront. Everyone told that no one pays attention to the basic facilities of the families involved in diving. Whether it is cold or hot, we have to stay at the Ghat for the whole day. No outpost has been made here for the divers to stay. It is so tight that some divers have quit their jobs and started selling vegetables, fishing and pulling rickshaws to make ends meet.
Duty increases after 10th-12th result
According to Shripal, the duty of divers is increased before Valentine’s Day and 10th-12th results. Because in the meantime people who have been cheated in love and students often jump into the river when they fail in the exam. That’s why on the day the results are to be declared, 2 to 3 divers are put on duty under each bridge. The workload of divers also increases during Chhath Puja and Ganesh Chaturthi.
Divers got only promises in the name of allowance
In the year 2008, 29 divers from Lucknow got the status of Special Police Officer (SPO). Everyone was given special cards. It was also decided to give an allowance of Rs 500 to the divers every month, but this amount was not received even once. On 1st July 2019 also DGP OP Singh honored the divers. Even then every diver was promised uniform and allowance, but after that nothing happened.
Diver Shripal said, “The SPO card has to be renewed every year. Allowance can be taken by showing this. In the year 2019, we got the card renewed by going to the DG’s office. Since then, we are using the same card. We also went to the police station for the same, but the police said to work with this card.”
Diver Shripal got the card of Special Police Officer. It looks old after getting wet in water.
Now…
So far you have learned about the life of divers. What do senior police officers have to say about the facilities provided to them. Know this too…
Former DGP AK Jain said – UP Police does not give allowance to SPO
Former UP DGP AK Jain says, “There is no separate post approved for divers in the Uttar Pradesh Police Department. Yes, the boatmen living on the banks of the river have definitely been given the status of SPO. So that the police can take their help in special circumstances.” No separate allowance has been fixed for this yet. But after rescuing the body, the administration can honor them as per their wish.”
The mantra given by the ancestors only increases the courage of the divers Ramchander, who was a godfather of the British era, said one thing to his son Shripal one day- ‘Child… As long as you are alive and someone’s life is being saved because of you, then put your life in saving his life.’ Remembering this mantra given by his father, Shripal descends into the river every day to save lives… and will continue to descend.
Finally, see that newspaper cutting when 29 divers of Lucknow were made special police officers along with Shripal…
In 2008, Lucknow SSP Akhir Kumar honored the divers. At that time their phone numbers were given at every police station. Their numbers were written in capital letters on all the ghats.
Also read these ground reports of Uttar Pradesh…
1. Dacoit Radhe said – Bomb exploded in front of me; Dadua torn to shreds, now Yogi should give me security
Dacoit Dadua’s right hand dacoit Radhe, who committed more than 200 murders, has been released… He spent 14 years and 11 months in jail. Faced more than 100 cases like robbery, murder, dacoity. While behind bars, he was transferred from three jails. Life imprisonment and death sentence were awarded in 8 cases. Radhe was counting the last days of his life, but a High Court order brought him back to life. Read the full news…
2. Just promises in the name of compensation; Forced to drive auto after false allegation of rape
In 2002, at the age of 23, Vishnu was jailed for rape. After he was imprisoned for 19 years and 3 months, it was found that he did not rape at all. The girl’s family had leveled false allegations against him due to a mutual dispute. When he came out after proving his innocence, his parents and two brothers were dead. Read the full news…
2. I cremated 4000 unclaimed dead bodies, people used to laugh when I used to drive a hearseVarsha, a resident of UP’s Lucknow district, has been performing the last rites of unclaimed dead bodies since 2018. She has cremated more than 4000 dead bodies so far. Appreciating Varsha’s work during Kovid, she was included in the BEAUTIFUL INDIANS-2022 list. Read the full news…