Tourists at the Devkund waterfalls near Bhira in Raigad
A year after two persons from Pune, including a young officer from College of Military Engineering (CME), died near Denkund waterfalls, near Bhira in Raighad, the gram panchayat authorities say they are better equipped this year, with special security teams and local guides.
Along with the waterfalls, Andarban treks and river rafting along Kundalika river, flowing through the area, have become popular among youngsters over the last two years. Tragedy struck this small village, located approximately 110 kms from Pune, in July 2017.
The Navy was rushed in to recover the bodies from the waterfalls. In another incident, a team of 55 college students was stuck in the forests in the same season. The tehsildar imposed section 144 for 90 days, till the monsoon ended.
Approximately 5,000 tourists visited the place during the last monsoon.
Locals say the rescue operations get challenging amidst the thick forests and heavy continuous downpour. Attending to emergencies at this locality, surrounded by the Sahyadri ranges on all four sides and with no proper roads, even movement of rescue teams becomes a time-consuming affair.
Vijay Mhamunkar, Patnoos village sarpanch, said, “It was a very unfortunate incident last year and we were not prepared to handle such crowds, mostly from Pune, Pimpri Chinchwad and Mumbai. We had to shut down all operations and it affected our income in the peak season.”
Patnoos and Bhira villages are dominated by tribal population, paddy cultivation being one of the main occupations while youngsters have migrated to big cities like Pune or Mumbai in search of work.
Updating about the panchayat’s preparedness, Mhamunkar said, “We have roped-in about 50 locals who have undergone training as local guides. A guide will accompany a group of 10 tourists and we will have other locals monitoring the visitors. In addition, we have four full-time security personnel who will monitor the season’s activities.”
With the help of the locals, the gram panchayat authorities have identified risk zones and spots, where they plan to impose restrictions on tourists from fraying. The season will be in full swing from July, when the region receives extremely heavy rains and similar rush, particular during holidays and weekends, continues till September. “We are prepared to host upto 2,000 tourists and all required preparations are nearing completion. Vehicles will have special parking spaces allotted and we will take down details of the visitors,” added the panchayat member.