15 of family stranded in Lavasa hotel after another landslide

A fresh landslide at Lavasa on Friday has left 15 members of a family from Mumbai, Thane and Ulhasnagar stranded at the much-sought-after holiday destination.

The family has been forced into a longer vacation

At present, apart from these 15 people, all the four major hotels in Lavasa are vacant. All hotels have cancelled their advance bookings until Sunday.

Mahesh Tawani (69), a resident of Borivili, who is among those stranded, said, "We came to Lavasa on Wednesday and were to leave on Friday morning, but when we had gone some distance, we were informed about a new landslide and decided to return to the hotel."

Kamlesh Mirani (62), who is from Juhu, said, "We want to return to Mumbai at the earliest, but thanks to the landslide, it won't be a smooth drive back."

Mirani said, "On Friday morning, many vehicles before ours managed to pass through the landslide location. When it was our turn, the staff stopped us as they had got news of another landslide nearby. We were advised to return to our hotel."

When asked if there was any shortage of food or other essentials at their hotel, Hemant Pai, the reservation in-charge said, "We have stocked up on all essentials for at least the next three days, and are hoping that by then the road connectivity issue is sorted out. We have cancelled all advance bookings till Sunday.

At the largest hotel, Fortune Select Dasve, which has 60 guest rooms, front office manager, Amit Srivastava, said, "We had a good number of advance bookings for the weekend, but because of the landslide, we had to cancel all. We hope things return to normal in the next two days."

A staffer at one of the hotels, on condition of anonymity, told mid-day that they were facing a shortage of milk and bread and were having laundry issues because the landslide had cut off connectivity.

Kamalprasad Maske, security head at Lavasa Corporation, said, "Heavy rain is affecting the road work and it could take a few days before the situation returns to normal."

Naveen Dak, Manager at Lavasa Corporation, said, "Our team is working to restore vehicular movement and we are hopeful that by Saturday evening, we will be able to get back to normal."