Gym trainer swept away in waterfall at Tamhini in Pune, body found after 48 hours

In what is the third fatal incident in this area this monsoon, Swapnil Dhawade, 38, a gym trainer from the Bhosari area in Pimpri-Chinchwad, died after he got swept away in a waterfall at the Tamhini Wildlife Sanctuary in Mulshi tehsil. After an intense search for 48 hours, Dhawade’s body was recovered on Monday, July 1, near Devkund in Mangaon.

On Saturday, June 29, Dhawade along with a group of 32 people had gone for a trek in the Plus Valley area of Tamhini Sanctuary. During the trek, the group arrived at a natural pool enroute to the Milky Bar waterfall where the incident occurred at around 12.30 pm the same day. At the time, Dhawade’s colleagues were also present at the spot. A video of the incident has now gone viral wherein Dhawade is seen jumping into the natural pool from a height and eventually being swept away by the current. After receiving information about the incident, a search operation was launched jointly by the police, Mulshi disaster management team, Shivdurg and Roha rescue teams, and the forest department.

Manoj Yadav, senior police inspector, Paud police station, said, “The search operation was underway since Saturday however the man who fell around 200 feet near Devkund waterfall was difficult to locate. The biggest challenge was the strong water force and the foggy, rainy weather which forced us to stop the search operation late afternoon. On Monday morning, the rescue operation resumed at around 8 am, and a drone camera was used to locate the body. It was found near Devkund in Mangaon. Hence, the rescue team and Mangaon police reached the spot and recovered the body of the deceased.”

Prashant Shelar, a member of the rescue team, said, “We received information about the incident at around 3 pm on Saturday. After reaching the spot, the team immediately launched a search operation. At the same time, another rescue team also reached the spot. However, as the water force was strong and the body could not be located, we had to suspend the operation on that day. On Sunday too, the body could not be located, and the fog and rain were causing difficulties in the search operation. Finally at around 12 pm on Monday, the body was found at Devkund. After recovering the body, it was retrieved from the forest area for which a 5.30 km trek had to be conducted by the rescue team. By late afternoon, the body was handed over to the Mulshi police.”

Further procedure was carried out by the Mulshi police before handing over the body to Dhawade’s family. Dhawade, had retired from the Indian Army last year after serving for 18 years.

“The rainfall and water force are unpredictable in the area where the accident occurred. In the last 15 days, three such incidents have taken place out of which, two have occurred at Tamhini and one has taken place at a waterfall near Tailbaila Fort. Entry has now been temporarily banned for tourists and we will be focussing more on the implementation of this ban to avoid any such incident in future,” said Yadav.