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Pune: A day after a woman and four children were swept away in a waterfall near Bhushi Dam in Lonavala, the Pune district administration imposed new guidelines for tourists due to the monsoon. Collector Suhas Diwase directed officials to conduct a survey to identify potential hazards and ensure necessary measures for the safety of tourists visiting Maval, Mulshi, Khed, Junnar, Bhor, Velha and Ambegaon located in the Western Ghats.
Enjoying Varsha Vihar in Lonavala of Pune district proved costly for a family. A family of 17-18 people was sitting and enjoying in the waterfall located in the mountains of Lonavala. Then suddenly the flow of water increased. Ten people were swept away in it. Five of them were rescued and five were washed away. The search for all the bodies has been completed. After this incident, the administration is appealing not to put the lives of yourself and others at risk.
Safety measures for tourists
Divase directed district officials to ensure safety measures while visiting picnic spots like rivers, lakes, dams, waterfalls, forts and forest areas. He stressed the need to demarcate prohibited areas by putting up warning boards. “Places that are disaster-prone and where safety measures cannot be taken should be closed to tourists,” he said.
Lonavala waterfall tragedy
The bodies of all five people swept away in a waterfall near Bhushi Dam in Pune’s Lonavala area were found on Monday. The five, comprising a woman and four children, drowned at around 12:30 pm on Sunday and bodies of three of them were recovered some hours later, while that of a girl was fished out earlier on Monday morning, an official said. A video of the incident showed some 9-10 persons holding on to each other while water gushed downhill all around them, before a woman and a boy and then a girl get swept away as their grip loosened.
