Team Herald
PONDA: Twenty-five-year-old Swagartha Basu from Pune, who had come on a trek to Goa with a group of 13 friends at Sonvalim-Collem by Nizzamduddin Express, is reported to have gone missing while trying to cross a flooded nullah on Sunday.
According to Collem Police, the group had come to Goa by train at Sonavlim at around 4.45 am. Besides them, there were other groups that arrived for trekking to proceed towards the Doodhsagar waterfall. During their trek, they were crossing a nullah at Sonvalim, which was flooded due to heavy rain and Swagartha lost control and got washed away.
According to the locals, the nullah water level often rises following heavy downpour. It was raining heavily on Sunday morning. The five team members, who tried to rescue her, also got washed away but were lucky to return to the bank. However, Swagartha is reported to have been missing till late evening and could not be traced by Collem Police. It is learnt that Swagartha is originally from West Bengal.
Commenting on the incident, Forest Official Paresh Parab said that the trekkers defied the warning not to cross the nullah.
He said that during the monsoon season, the forest department even bans the 225 Jeeps transporting tourists to Doodhsagar, from operating.
However, he said, the Forest Department has demarcated trekking route towards Doodhsagar watch tower centre where trekkers are not required to cross the flooded river to reach the watch towers, from where Doodhsagar can be viewed safely.
He informed that trekkers need permission from the Forest Department to proceed towards Doodhsagar waterfall site. However, the trekkers from Pune did not have that permission, he said.
Forest Department Counter at Collem allows trekking from 9 am onwards and the trekkers have to return before 5.30 pm.
