Bhadrak:AnASHA worker has been applauded by the Bhadrak district administration for rescuing a 60-year-old woman from the recent Odisha floods by carrying the elderly person to safety on her back, an official said on Thursday. Minati Sahoo carried the woman on her back for around 500 metres through knee-deep water to a safe shelter in Dhamnagar block.

Sahoo, who serves Nadigaon and Bharatpur areas, was providing medicines in waterlogged villages and spreading awareness among residents about precautions against diseases likely to spread due to the floods, he said. While she was returning from her field visit, she learnt that a breach in the Karanpal river embankment had caused floodwaters to enter Nadigaon village.

When she visited the area, she noticed the elderly woman, identified as Basanta Das, sitting alone on the verandah of her house. Floodwaters had already reached the verandah level, the official said. Das was unable to move on her own as she was suffering from an infection in her legs and normally needed the support of family members even to walk. Her son, meanwhile, had gone to a medical facility with his pregnant wife, he said.