The spot from where the woman fell in the 150 feet gorge on Saturday evening.
Although the road going up to Sinhagad Fort has been closed for tourists to facilitate repair works after the landslides in the ghat section, it hasn’t discouraged the sightseers who are still flocking to the fort taking the difficult, slippery trekkers’ route. According to locals, as many as 3,000-3,500 tourists, including families, young children and youth, are climbing up the fort, using the trekking route since Thursday when the District Collector ordered that the main road leading up to the fort be closed for eight days until the repair work is finished. A 28-year-old woman, who had fallen in the 150-foot deep gorge on Saturday evening, had taken the trekking route to reach the fort, locals said. The woman, who was accompanied by her husband and brother, was trying to click a photograph when she slipped off and fell in the gorge, locals said. She spent about one-and-a-half hours within the gorge before locals rescued her.
According to local residents, despite the road closure, there has been only a slight dip in the tourists visiting the fort. “On weekdays, we receive about 400 to 600 tourists and on weekends this number goes up to 3,000 to 4,000. Most of the tourists take the motorway to reach the fort while about 30 per cent of them choose the difficult trekking route. We were hoping that due to the closure of the road, the visitor count will see a drastic fall. However, the number has remained unchanged. On Sunday, by 5 pm, about 3,000 tourists had visited. Even if there’s any fall, it must only be of 200-300 people,” said Amol Padher.
To take this route, one has to first reach Atkarewadi from where once can start the climbing. While the usual route takes about 20 minutes, the route via Atkarewadi may take one-and-a-half to 2 hours. An official working with the Disaster Management Cell of Pune District Collectorate said that there was little officials could do about people climbing up, using routes other than the main road. “We are aware that there’s a greater risk of something untoward happening when people use difficult routes to climb the fort, but we can do little about it. The real reason to worry is that if something untoward happens at the fort, there are no vehicles to ferry the victim to the hospital as the road is closed,” said the official, adding that the local police and the forest department have been asked to remain vigilant.
Talking about Saturday’s incident, Vikas Jorkar, a local resident, said that the woman, identified as Pranita Ingale (28), hailing from Latur, was on a sightseeing trip and had reached Sinhagad after visiting Goa and Tamhini Ghat, among other places. “It was around 6.30 pm when the woman was trying to click a selfie and had crossed the railings in her effort to get a good view of the valley. Due to rains, the region has become slippery. She slipped off the cliff and fell into the gorge. Her husband and brother started to shout, seeking help. The woman had landed about 150 foot below and received minor injuries. She responded with a shout. We reached the spot after hearing the commotion. With the help of the local friends, we rescued her,” said Jorkar. Locals said that the issue was critical because the woman was several months pregnant. The woman was rushed to a local doctor in the vehicle of a local.
“As the road is closed owing to repair work, there was no possibility of an ambulance ferrying her to the hospital. Thankfully, a resident of the fort had a car which was used to do the needful,” said Padher.
