Eight young dreams cut short at Diveagar, Alandi mourns its sons

The Diveagar trip, meant to be a day of friendship, excitement and memories, ended with eight 16-year-olds drowning at the Raigad beach, leaving behind grieving parents, unfinished dreams and a town struggling to understand how a school outing turned into a tragedy.

PUNE: On Thursday morning, eight Class 11 students from Alandi left home with their friends, teachers and a day at the sea ahead of them. By Friday, the town was preparing to receive their bodies.

Eight young dreams cut short at Diveagar, Alandi mourns its sons

The Diveagar trip, meant to be a day of friendship, excitement and memories, ended with eight 16-year-olds drowning at the Raigad beach, leaving behind grieving parents, unfinished dreams and a town struggling to understand how a school outing turned into a tragedy.

The students of Winners Academy and Study Centre, Alandi, drowned around 5:30pm on Thursday after entering the sea. Their deaths plunged Alandi and neighbouring villages into mourning, while questions emerged over the supervision and safety arrangements during the excursion.

The deceased were identified as Tanmay Dattatray Vahile, Sumeet Bharat Ahire, Pranav Ramdas Bansode, Kaiwalya Satish Wasankar, Rajveer Yuvraj Vahile, Yash Kiran Wankhede, Soham Tukaram Bhandwalkar and Kaustubh Sandeep Dond.

For their families, however, the eight names represent much more than a list of victims. They were sons who were growing into young men, students planning careers, and children around whom their families had built their hopes.

‘First time he insisted on anything’

For Sumeet Ahire’s family, the trip carried a particularly painful memory. Sumeet, the only child of his parents, was a Class 11 science student preparing for the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE). He wanted to become an engineer and had joined Winners Academy to work towards that goal.

His family had recently celebrated his birthday. Soon afterwards, Sumeet asked his parents for permission to join the Diveagar trip with his friends.

“He never insisted on anything or any trip. But, for the first time, he insisted on going, and it proved fatal,” said his maternal uncle Mukesh Mali.

On Thursday, Sumeet left home with his classmates. On Friday, they received his body.

Friend tried to save friend

The accounts of students who survived have added another painful dimension to the tragedy. Shradha Dhotre, a Class 11 student who was part of the trip, said the group left Alandi in the early hours of Thursday.

“We left home at 2:30am on October 1 and around 3:15am, the bus left for the trip. We were travelling in a private tourist bus,” she said.

According to students and parents, the group was warned about a deep portion of the sea and asked not to enter it. However, some students went into the water.

“A big wave came and there was a big hole, and the water covered their heads and took them down,” Dhotre said.

As the students began struggling in the water, attempts were made to rescue them. Soham Bhandwalkar was among those who entered the water to help his friends, according to fellow students. A teacher also entered the sea to help.

One student who managed to get out raised the alarm. Teachers and students who knew swimming tried to pull others out, while local residents and water-sports operators joined the rescue effort.

Kanifnath Pujari, whose son Aniket was on the trip, said Aniket told him that several students had entered deeper water.

“My son told me that 16 students were in the water. Eight drowned and the remaining were saved by locals. A human chain was made to rescue the students,” Pujari said.

Pujari said he had spoken to the students before they left and warned them about the strong currents.

“I even cautioned them to be careful as the high current of water can pull them inside. I also spoke to the teacher and asked if life jackets could be arranged for the beach visit,” he said.

‘I am safe, but my friends are gone’

For Shiv Santosh Nichang, who survived, the tragedy has left a different kind of wound. The Class 11 science student has diabetes and needs regular medicine and insulin. His friends would remind him to take his medicines on time, his father Santosh Nichang said.

When news of the drowning reached Alandi, the family tried to contact Shiv. His phone was initially unreachable. The anxiety ended when he finally called his father.

“I am safe, but my friends are gone,” Shiv said, breaking down over the phone.

The relief of finding their son alive was overshadowed by the knowledge that several of the children he had travelled with would not return home.

8 families, 8 unfinished futures

Each of the eight families was left confronting a different version of the same loss. Kaiwalya Wasankar was an only child. His father works in Gujarat, while his mother collapsed after learning of his death, relatives said.

Kaustubh Dond had a younger brother studying in Class 2.

Rajveer Vahile, from Kelgaon, was the only son of his parents. Relatives said the family had looked upon him as their future support.

Soham Bhandwalkar was remembered by relatives as a bright student. His father, Tukaram Bhandwalkar, works at Minda Corporation.

On Friday, Alandi witnessed funeral processions instead of the usual bustle of a weekday. The bodies of Sumeet Ahire, Tanmay Vahile, Pranav Bansode and Kaiwalya Wasankar were cremated at the Alandi crematorium amid a large gathering of relatives and residents. Soham Bhandwalkar and Rajveer Vahile were cremated at Kelgaon, while the bodies of Yash Wankhede and Kaustubh Dond were taken to their respective native places, Amravati and Shrirampur, in Ahilyanagar district.

At the Alandi crematorium, four funeral pyres burned simultaneously. For residents who had watched the boys grow up, the sight was difficult to comprehend.

Grief gives way to questions

By Friday, the mourning in Alandi had also begun turning into questions about the trip and the academy. The town observed a voluntary shutdown in memory of the eight students; markets were closed, and major roads looked deserted. Essential services were exempted.

Outside Winners Academy, parents and relatives gathered seeking answers about the excursion, supervision and safety arrangements. Police personnel remained deployed outside the institute for the second consecutive day.

Alandi police inspector B L Narke said police would verify the circumstances surrounding the trip and take action based on the findings.

“There were two directors and teachers with the students,” Narke said, adding that police contacted the families of the deceased after obtaining their details and arranged transport for some of them.

For Alandi, a town associated with the Warkari tradition and accustomed to seeing thousands of people arrive in devotion, Friday brought a different kind of gathering - residents coming together in grief.

Eight boys who left for a day by the sea did not return.

Their families are now left with photographs, schoolbooks, birthdays that will not be celebrated and plans that will never be fulfilled. What was meant to be a one-day educational excursion has instead left eight families mourning futures that had only just begun to take shape.