Entry to the Kharghar hills and Pandavkada waterfall, another popular tourist spot in the town, was banned in June in view of the numerous accidents that took place there in the recent past
Police and fire brigade personnel have rescued 116 people — including 78 women and five children — marooned on Kharghar hills in Navi Mumbai since Sunday evening.
Heavy rains in that area led to the stream swelling, leaving the revellers on the hills. The police and the fire brigade officials rescued them using an iron ladder and a plastic rope. The rescue operation started a little after 5pm and it continued for two hours, the police said.
Entry to the Kharghar hills and Pandavkada waterfall, another popular tourist spot in the town, was banned in June in view of the numerous accidents that took place there in the recent past.
Shatrughna Mali, senior inspector of Kharghar police station, said, “These revellers were from different places of Navi Mumbai and Mumbai. They went to the hills by crossing the stream earlier in the day. However, due to heavy rainfall the stream got swollen, making it impossible for them to return. We managed to rescue all of them with the help of fire brigade personnel. No one suffered injuries in the rescue operation.”
“We have deployed officials so that no one can enter the area. However, the hills cover a huge area at Kharghar, and our six to seven officials are not enough to watch over the entire region. We have not taken action against rescued revellers for illegally entering the hills, as they were anyway scared. But we will not spare anyone from now on,” he said.
