Navi Mumbai: Two employees from Pune's Chakan MIDC lost their lives after drowning in the prohibited Devkund Waterfall in Mangaon taluka on Sunday afternoon. The tragedy occurred after the group they were travelling with allegedly ignored police warnings and entered the restricted tourist spot through an alternative route.
The deceased have been identified as Gopal Ramlal Rathod (23), a resident of Damla Tanda in Nanded district, and Vishnu Vilas Dhok (24), from Jaipur village in Hingoli district. Both were employed with different companies in Chakan MIDC.
Police said a group of 26 employees, comprising 20 men and six women, had travelled to Devkund in a rented mini-bus for a monsoon outing. When they reached the Patnus T-point around 12.15 pm, police personnel on duty informed them that entry to the waterfall had been banned due to the dangerous conditions during the monsoon and directed them to return.
Despite the warning, the group allegedly accessed the waterfall through another route and reached the restricted area.
Around 2 pm, Rathod and Dhok entered the water near the base of the waterfall. Preliminary investigation indicates that Dhok, who reportedly could not swim, got into difficulty after entering the deep pool. Rathod is believed to have tried to rescue him, but both were pulled underwater and drowned.
A massive search operation involving Mangaon police, local villagers, the SVRSS rescue team and the Shelar Mama Rescue Team was launched soon after the incident. Rescue efforts continued until late Sunday evening but were suspended due to darkness and poor underwater visibility.
The operation resumed early Monday with nearly 35 rescuers equipped with specialised diving gear and underwater cameras. The bodies were located at around 12.30 pm from the nearly 50-foot-deep pool and recovered within minutes before being brought down from the hilly terrain.
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"We had deployed personnel at the entry point specifically to prevent visitors from accessing Devkund during the monsoon. Unfortunately, some tourists bypassed the barricades and entered through an unauthorised route. People must understand that these restrictions are imposed solely to save lives, and ignoring them can have fatal consequences," said Police Inspector Sanjay Bangar of Mangaon Police Station.
The bodies were sent to the Mangaon Government Hospital for post-mortem examination. Police are carrying out further investigation into the incident.
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