25-year-old Odisha trekker rescued after he falls into gorge in Khandala

PUNE: Hours after 25-year-old Harishchandra Mandal, a trekker from Odisha, fell into a 100-ft gorge at Monkey Hill in Khandala on Thursday night, he was safely rescued by teams from Lonavla and Maval in the early hours of Friday.
Mandal, who called an auto driver for help after securing himself on a branch in the gorge, sustained minor bruises in the accident.
Mandal is working in a private company in Goa, and had come to Maharashtra as a tourist. After spending a day in Mumbai and Pune, Mandal reached Khandala on Thursday morning.
He told TOI, "I wanted to enjoy the natural beauty in Khandala. I hired an autorickshaw and told the driver to drop me at a trekking point. I had taken his number to call him to pick me up later."
The driver dropped him off near Monkey Hill around 10am on Thursday. "I spent the day in the forest area. While returning, I slipped and fell into the gorge," Mandal said.
He managed to latch onto the branch of a tree in the gorge. "It had started getting dark at the time. I realised I had the cellphone number of the auto driver and contacted him for help," said Mandal.
An officer from the Lonavla City police said the driver informed them. "We alerted rescue teams, including Lonavla's Shivdurga Mitra and Maval's Wanyajeev Rakshak and Apada Mitra," he said.
He added that around 100 members of these teams gathered at the spot with equipment required for the rescue.
Nilesh Garade of Wanyajeev Rakshak, Maval, told TOI that it was completely dark when the rescuers reached Monkey Hill. They used torches to find the route. "Sachin Gaikwad of Shivdurga Mitra led the teams and traced the spot from where the man had fallen down," Garade said.
After identifying the victim, three members climbed down first. "They found him to be safe. He was then tied with ropes and pulled up," Garade added.
Mandal was brought up around 2am on Friday. He was then sent to a hospital and discharged after preliminary treatment, said Garade.