Tragedy Strikes: Hyderabad Tourist Drowns in Kalu River Waterfall, Search Underway

Pune : A distressing incident has unfolded as a group of tourists from Hyderabad encountered a tragedy at the Kalu River waterfall in Murbad taluka. The mishap unfolded when four individuals ventured to the Kalu River from the Khireshwar area of Junnar taluka.

Among the visitors, Abhishek Rawalkar (29) lost his life in a drowning accident during the outing. Despite concerted search efforts led by local residents and rescue teams, the unfortunate incident has been compounded by unfavourable weather conditions, hampering the search and recovery operation.

Renowned for its picturesque allure, the Kalu River draws tourists and trekkers from across the nation, with many capturing and sharing the scenic marvel on various social media platforms. While some tourists avail themselves of the local paid ropeway service for traversing the river, others choose to navigate the waters unassisted.

In this instance, the Hyderabad tourists attempted an independent river crossing, underestimating the strength of the water current. This miscalculation led to two of them slipping and struggling in the water. While one was fortunate enough to be rescued by local residents, the other tourist remains missing and unaccounted for. Immediate action was taken by the Junnar Rescue Team, spearheaded by Shantaram Bamhane, as well as Deepak Vishe and his Thane Rescue Team colleagues, who promptly initiated a search operation. Regrettably, the search had to be temporarily suspended due to the onset of darkness as evening descended.

Madhupriya Dhanwate