Repeated warn ings, recent fatalities and the well-documented dan gers of Goa’s swollen rivers and waterfalls during the monsoon continue to go unheeded, with a 15-year old boy drowning at a border waterfall while six youths from Sankhali were rescued after spending a night stranded near anoth er waterfall in two separate incidents that unfolded within hours of each other. The tragedy and the nar row escape have once again exposed the growing disre gard for official advisories urging people to stay away from waterfalls and other monsoon hotspots, where water levels can rise sud denly following heavy rain fall upstream. The latest fatality claimed the life of 15-year-old Adit ya Dilip Kumar Satpati of Belagavi, Karnataka, who drowned on Sunday while visiting the Delta (Barazan) waterfall near Surla along the Goa-Karnataka border.
Aditya had reported ly travelled to the popular waterfall with five friends, entering the area from the Karnataka side. Following reports of the drowning, per sonnel from the Valpoi Police Station, Fire and Emergen cy Services, the Forest De partment and local volun teers launched an extensive search operation. The search continued until late Sunday before resuming on Monday morning, when rescuers recovered the teenager’s body after several hours of effort. Police have initiated further investigation into the incident. Barely hours later, an other potentially fatal situation unfolded near the Vazra Sakla waterfall on the Goa-Maharashtra border, where six youths from Sankhali were res cued on Monday morning after remaining stranded overnight.
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The group had visited the waterfall on Sunday after noon after crossing three streams when the water level was low. However, rainfall in the surrounding catchment area caused the rivers to swell rapidly, cut ting off their return route. Realising the danger, the youths chose not to attempt crossing the fast-flowing streams and instead waited on higher ground for the water level to recede. With no mobile network in the area, they were unable to alert anyone. Alarm was raised after the group failed to return home on Sunday evening.
Investigators examined CCTV footage from the RTO check-post and traced the youths’ last known mobile phone location to Revona-Molem. Following the development, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant directed the Bicholim Police to coordinate with their counterparts in Maharashtra, triggering a joint rescue operation involving Goa Police, Maharashtra Police, Fire and Emergency Ser vices, the Forest Department and local volunteers from Sankhali. Rescue teams combed the forest through the night us ing torchlights while repeatedly calling out the youths’ names.
Favourable weather aided the search, with no rain hampering the operation. After crossing two swollen riv ers, rescuers located the stranded youths at around 5 am on Monday after hearing them respond to the calls. All six were brought to safety without injuries. One of those res cued is the son of Sankhali Municipal Council Chairperson Siddhi Porob. The back-to-back incidents have once again highlighted the recurring pattern witnessed every monsoon, with vis itors continuing to venture into hazardous waterfalls and rivers despite repeated advisories and a string of water-re lated deaths.
