ERODE: Rasathi, 23, of Thengumarahada, had been waiting for the big day since her 56-year-old father K Avinashi fixed her marriage with a Coimbatore-based groom. She didn’t want the swelling Moyar to bring her dreams to an abrupt end and took a risky coracle ride on Friday to reach Coimbatore well in advance of her wedding day, which is fixed on August 20.Thengumarahada village is situated in the Nilgiris. But the approach road is passing through the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR) and Bhavanisagar in Erode district. There are more than 3,000 residents in the village. They have to first cross the Moyar to take a bus to Bhavanisagar. Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) buses attached to Coimbatore division operate up to Moyar river bed from Sathyamangalam.Avinashi said he had recently fixed his daughter’s marriage with C Ranjith Kumar, 27, of Alankombai near Sirumugai in Coimbatore. But as ill luck would have it, the Moyar, one of the tributaries of Bhavani river, started to swell with floodwater. The district forest department subsequently instructed Thengumarahada villagers not to cross the river until further orders.However, both Avinashi and his daughter were not ready to easily give up their big plans. On Friday, Avinashi approached forest officials and told them that they had to go to Sirumugai by all means as otherwise the marriage would be stopped.Realising the gravity of the issue, forest officials and other fellow villagers came forward to help them cross the Moyar, which is in spate.With the support of 50 villagers and foresters, 12 members of Avinashi’s family crossed the river in a coracle. It, however, wasn’t an easy ride at all. “We were taken in two batches - six people at a time. The oarsman took us to the other side of the river bank safely,” Avinashi told TOI.The foresters were on their toes until they crossed the river safely. “We were ready with ropes and swimmers to rescue the family members, if coracle were to be capsized,” said a forest official, who did not want to be named.Rasathi and her family members then took a bus to Bhavanisagar, from where they boarded another bus to Sirumugai. “We have decided to halt in Sirumugai until floodwater subsides in Moyar,” Avinashi said.

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