Visit to Dudhsagar during rains is illegal, dangerous, says forest dept

Panaji: Despite restrictions and the risk of falling off and drowning, several visitors try to climb the Dudhsagar waterfalls. The body of a tourist, who was suspected to have drowned while enjoying the waterfall earlier this week, was not found till Thursday evening.
The Dudhsagar falls is closed to the public from May to September. Designated multi-utility vehicle trips are permitted through the national park from October onwards.
With the stoppage of transportation during the four months of the monsoon, the forest official said, people illegally trek along the rail track to reach the waterfall.
“Sometimes, people get onboard a passenger train and disembark at Dudhsagar. The more adventurous type even get into goods trains, perhaps by bribing an engine driver, to reach the waterfall,” he said.
The forest officer said that it is suspected that some people from outside the state also take responsibility to take enthusiastic people wanting to go to the waterfall, for a fee. “Using their nexus, they transport people through goods trains and take them to the waterfall,” he said.
The railway track, the forest official said, not being in their domain, they cannot stop people who take that route to reach the waterfall.
With rocks and overall areas being slippery due to the rain, some fall off and drown. Most accidents, he said, happen at the first pool of the waterfall that lies above the railway track. “The first pool is a no-go area. We do not have any measures there. It is not at all safe for swimming. There is no way a novice can hold in the first pool. There is a collector's order prohibiting swimming there.”
The forest official said that when tourism starts, lifeguards are posted at the second pool and the area is also cordoned off to warn people not to go beyond that point, as it is the deepest part of the water body. Life jackets are given to trekkers. However, during off-season, this pool is also closed for visitors, he said.