Mumbai, Apr 27 (Mid-day) : The 14-year-old jumped into Banganga Tank after hearing that his 10-year-old neighbour, who had been playing near its steps, had suddenly disappeared into the water; he rescued her from a ditch she was stuck in, 25 feet under the water

A young boy dived deep into the Banganga tank without thinking of his own safety, in order to rescue a girl who was assumed to have drowned. The courageous teen managed to extract the girl from 25 feet under the water within minutes, after which she was given CPR and taken to a local hospital. Though she is in the ICU, she is now stable.

The incident occurred at the Banganga Tank in Malabar Hill on Saturday. At around 5.30 pm, Krishna Pashtye (10), was playing by the water body with a few other local children. After a while, one of her family members realised she had disappeared from near the treacherous steps of the lake.

Suspecting she may have drowned at the tank notorious for such incidents, the family and neighbours immediately launched a rescue mission. “Drowning incidents have become so usual for us that youngsters at the vicinity are always ready for a rescue operation.

When we got to know about this incident, almost 50 of us started searching for the girl inside the lake,” said Yogesh Dandekar, a local resident. Police were also informed.

Deep dive

Mohit Dalvi, a 14-year-old boy and a neighbour of the Pashtyes, heard of the incident and rushed to the spot. By the time he reached the tank, more than 10 minutes had passed. Time was running out for Krishna — assuming she was even alive. A fearless Dalvi leapt into the waters going in at different spots and failing to locate the girl.

At the third try, he emerged, panting, with the drowned child in tow. He had pulled her out of the jaws of death. “Her leg had gotten stuck in a ditch that had gotten created after we removed weeds from the lake recently. I had helped remove the plants and was aware of the ditch being deep and muddy,” said Dalvi nonchalantly, when asked about the rescue.

Local divers then administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to the girl, and immediately took her to St Elizabeth Hospital in Walkeshwar, where she was admitted to the ICU. “There was 65 ml aspiration in her lungs and we removed the water. There is always a danger of pneumonia or lung infection in drowning cases, but luckily the girl is out of danger now.

We have kept her under observation for 48 hours,” said Muthalaxmi Ramaswamy, the treating doctor at the hospital. Though she is now stable, doctors asserted that had she spent another minute inside the water, she would’ve died. Aspiration refers to the process of entry of material into the wind pipe and, thereafter, into the lungs.

Saviour

The Pashtyes, meanwhile, cannot praise Dalvi enough for his guts. Krishna’s mother, Anusha, who works as domestic help, said, “He walked in like God and pulled my daughter out. We are eternally in his debt,” she exclaimed. Local politicians, police and neighbours are showering him with praise.

He has even received Rs 5,000 from a local politician, and Shiv Sena MP Anil Desai also felicitated him in a function. Dalvi, who lost his parents at an early age, stays with his elder brother, at his aunt’s place. Locals hope the Std VII student receives some more monetary help to further his education.