Six feared drowned as boat capsizes in Ujani dam backwater

A police official, who was among the seven persons on the boat, swam to safety and alerted the locals following which the rescue operations commenced

At least six people are feared drowned in Ujani dam backwaters after a private boat carrying them capsized near Kalashi village close to Indapur, around 140km from Pune city, officials said on Wednesday.

NDRF personnel during a search and rescue operation after six persons, including two children, drowned as their boat capsized on Tuesday evening in the Ujani dam backwaters, in Pune district, Wednesday. (PTI)

The incident occurred on Tuesday evening when the area witnessed heavy rainfall along with thunderstorms.

“A police official, who was among the seven persons on the boat, swam to safety and alerted the locals following which the rescue operations commenced. The search operation is still underway,” said Pune superintendent of police Pankaj Deshmukh.

Teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), local administration and police are deployed for search and rescue operations, said Pune rural police.

The capsized boat has been anchored and is being taken out, said NDRF in a statement.

NCP (SP) MP from Baramati Supriya Sule and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Madha Ranjeetsinh Naik-Nimbalkar arrived at the spot to review search operations.

Sule said, “More resources are needed here in the rescue operation. The collector of Pune should take immediate notice of this and take appropriate action. I am continuously reviewing the relief and rescue operations here.”