Thane: Man feared drowned in dam; search operation called off as no trace found

Image used for representational purpose. File photo

A 19-year-old man was feared drowned in a dam in Maharashtra's Thane city, civic officials said on Thursday, reported PTI.

The man went to the small dam, located in Ovla area, at around 6.30 pm on Wednesday with his friends. While his friends ventured into the reservoir for a swim, he stayed out but he slipped and fell into water, Thane Municipal Corporation's disaster management cell chief Yasin Tadvi said.

After being alerted, local firemen and the disaster management cell team rushed to the spot and searched for the man, but he was not traced, the official said. The search operation was called off for the day late Wednesday night and resumed on Thursday morning, the official said.

The police were conducting a probe into the incident and trying to find out how the man fell into the water.

In a separate incident, earlier on July 17, a 17-year-old boy drowned in Upvan Lake in Thane, Maharashtra. He had allegedly gone missing while swimming with his friends. The incident occurred at around 01:45 pm near Ganapati Visarjan Ghat in Thane, the Regional Disaster Management Cell (RDMC) of the Thane Municipal Corporation said. The RDMC said that the incident was reported to the disaster management unit at around 2:12 pm following which the civic officials rushed to the spot to locate the boy. According to the RDMC, upon receiving the information, local authorities swiftly mobilized resources to initiate a search and rescue operation. Present at the scene are officers from the Vartaknagar Police, the Disaster Management officials and rescue personnel from the Disaster Management Cell, etc. The team was supported by one pickup vehicle, one bus vehicle, one rescue vehicle, and one fire brigade vehicle.

On July 7, in another incident, two children drowned in a water-filled quarry in Bhiwandi, a civic official had said. "The boys, aged 10 and 15, went to the quarry for a swim," the fire official said. According to the officials, a team of local firemen rushed to the spot and fished out the duo.

"The duo were taken to a local hospital where doctors declared them brought dead," he said. "The boys were cousins and lived in Anjurphata locality in Bhiwandi," the official said. A case of accidental was registered.

(With PTI inputs)