22-year-old out on picnic with family drowns in Zenith

Navi Mumbai: A 22-year-old woman out on an outing with her family members drowned in a waterfall in Maharashtra’s Raigad district during heavy rains on Wednesday.

Seven members of the family, Three sisters, a brother, son-in-law and two children, from Khopoli had gone to the Zenith waterfall, about 70 km from Mumbai when the sudden surge in the water flow led to their daughter Swapnali Kshirsagar, 22, being swept away.

The body of the deceased was located after an hour-long search around 2.5 km away from the waterfall. The police have filed an accidental death report in the case. “To enjoy nature, the family decided to visit the local waterfall. They were heading to the waterfall when the water flow increased rapidly. Three of the members managed to make a quick escape, however, remaining four were stranded in the heavy stream,” said a police officer investigating the matter.

The police officer stated that the deceased was forewarned on two previous occasions about visiting the waterfall during the rainy season.

Ganesh Koli, a tourist present at the time of the incident, said, “Due to the heavy rainfall, the area surrounding the waterfall had water overflowing from all sides. The family was trapped and were standing on a small island when two of them were swept away in the current.”

“One of them was a boy who held onto safety chains around the boundary wall and was pulled over to safety by a local. But the woman was swept away,” said Koli, a Nalasopara resident.

He alerted the social organizations which undertook the rescue operation. “There are QR codes placed around the waterfall to seek help in times of crisis. The tourist informed us that two people were stranded at the waterfall. A team was assigned, and two women stranded on land surrounded by water were rescued; however, the third person had already been swept away,” said Gurunath Sathelkar, founder of Help Foundation.