Kollam: The firemen in Kollam were in a particularly unenviable situation in 2010. A murdered man’s family wanted the firemen to fish out the victim’s body from a deep well at Kadaykkal. That should have been an easy task for the professionals but for one crucial problem. The well was doused with the deadly cyanide.
The man was the victim of a family feud. The suspect had sprinkled cyanide around the well before tricking his victim into getting into the well to save a lost kitten. The man died as soon as he got into the well.
The fire force fell back on a trusted fireman from Chamakkada. Rajendran Pillai winched himself into the well and recovered the body. He is one of the two firemen who received a medal from the president for distinguished service this year.
Rajendran Pillai shared the honour with K N Biju, Kerala Fire Force’s scuba diving expert. Both of them have received medals from the state chief minister in 2015.
Biju is a member of a crack team of divers formed by the Fire Force eight years ago. The Fire Force felt the need for a specialised team when it found itself helpless to intervene in situations related to water-related accidents.
One of the daring rescue acts of the team was led by Biju seven years ago when the Bhoothathan Kettu dam’s shutters were opened due to incessant rains. The Periyar River was in spate. Three farm labourers who went to the farm at Vettambara near Moovattupuzha went missing.
The Fire Force team and the people in the area launched a massive search operation. The three men were eventually found stuck on a high rock in the middle of the river. They were marooned on the rock after their raft broke apart in the river.
The Fire Force team called in the specialised scuba diving team from Kothamangalam. The five-member team rushed to the spot. After a night of failed attempts they led the three labourers to safety by 5 am.
Biju said that nothing had prepared him for the scenes he had faced underwater. The gory sights had haunted him for days, he said. More disturbing is the hopeful faces of the victim’s relatives who expect the diver to find him alive. As an experienced diver, Biju knows what is in store for them.
Biju said that he was never able to forget the sight of a small boy who drowned in an abandoned quarry in Ernakulam district. The diver found the boy at a depth of 70 feet, stretched on a rock with both hands forming a pillow in his eternal sleep. Biju felt tears flooding his goggles. He cried again after lifting the body to the shore. The Kothamangalam native has been in service for 21 years.
Rajendran Pillai started his career with the Fire Force in 1999. He has saved as much as 60 lives and earned 22 medals. He is a specialist in dealing with accidents involving wells. He has saved many lives during his stint in Kasaragod. He has saved three people from a collapsed building in Kollam.
He was a crucial member of the team that acted swiftly after the fireworks tragedy at Puttingal in Kollam district.
