Two drown in lake in Thane’s Sanjay Gandhi National Park

The local police have now written to the Forest Department, seeking measures aimed at stopping people from entering the lake

Two people drowned in the Nilapani Lake in Yeoor range of Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) on Monday in Thane. Two people had drowned at the same spot on Sunday as well. This has prompted the local police to write to the forest department, seeking measures to stop people from entering the lake.

Representational Image. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

According to Thane municipal corporation officials, the two boys who drowned on Monday were both 17 and had gone to the lake along with their five of their friends. The group entered the lake for a swim and around 10.05 am, these two boys drowned.

Their friends immediately raised an alarm, after which officials from the Vartak Nagar police station as well as the TMC, the Regional Disaster Management Cell, the Thane Disaster Response Force and the Thane Fire Brigade rushed to the spot. A search and rescue operation was undertaken immediately.

“While one boy’s body was located at around 12.45 pm and handed over to the police, search is still underway for that of the other one,” a civic official said.

Meanwhile, the police said picnickers continue to enter the lake even though it is forbidden, leading to fatalities. On Sunday alone, a minor boy and 20-year-old Juber Sayyed drowned in the same lake.

“People have been coming in large numbers ever since the monsoons started and Covid-19 related restrictions were relaxed. Picnickers enter the dense forest area, which makes it hard for the authorities to track them, and then enter the lake. As a result, even if there is an incident, rushing timely help to the spot becomes difficult as the spot is not easily reachable. We have submitted a letter to the forest department today, asking them to put up signboards warning visitors against entering the forest and the lake,” police inspector Santosh Ghatekar, Vartak Nagar police station said. They have also registered an accidental death case for the boy whose body was found.