In response to recent tragic incidents, the Pune district administration has issued specific guidelines for tourists in view of the monsoon season. This decision comes after a woman and four children lost their lives in a tragic incident where they were swept away near Bhushi Dam in Lonavala on Sunday. A day later Collector Suhas Divase directed authorities to conduct a comprehensive survey aimed at identifying potential hazards and implementing necessary safety measures across popular tourist areas including Maval, Mulshi, Khed, Junnar, Bhor, Velha, and Ambegaon in the Western Ghats region.
"Divase instructed district officials to visit picnic spots such as rivers, lakes, dams, waterfalls, forts and forest areas and ensure the safety measures. He directed to demarcate prohibited areas by installing warning boards. The places which are disaster-prone and where the safety measures cannot be taken must be shut for tourists," he said.
Safety measures urged for monsoon tourists
A large number of people come to Bhushi, Pavana dam areas, Lonavala, Sinhgad, Malshej and Tamhini Ghat during the monsoon. "Agencies like revenue, forest, railways, municipal corporations and PWD should deploy divers, rescue boats, life guards, life jackets at water bodies which are frequented by tourists. Divase also asked the district administration to rope in NGOs, rescue foundations, trekkers and locals," the official said. Visitors will not be allowed at such spots in forests after 6 pm, Divase said.
Lonavala waterfall tragedy
The bodies of all five people swept away in a waterfall near Bhushi Dam in Pune's Lonavala area were found on Monday. The five, comprising a woman and four children, drowned at around 12:30 pm on Sunday and bodies of three of them were recovered some hours later, while that of a girl was fished out earlier on Monday morning, an official said. A video of the incident showed some 9-10 persons holding on to each other while water gushed downhill all around them, before a woman and a boy and then a girl get swept away as their grip loosened.
(With PTI inputs)
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