Two drown in Pawna dam while kayaking; cops, volunteers find fault with safety aspects

Pune, Dec 5 (PTI) Two men drowned in Pawna dam in Pune's Maval tehsil while kayaking, a police official said on Thursday.

One of them fell off the kayak and started drowning, after which a friend jumped off another kayak to save him, resulting in both of them losing their lives, the Lonavala rural police station official said.

A video clip of the incident went viral on social media, which showed several of their friends standing on the bank of the waterbody.

"Deceased Mayur Bharsake (25) and Tushar Ahire (26) were part of a real estate firm and hailed from Jalgaon district. The incident took place on Wednesday afternoon. The two were part of a group of eight picnickers. The kayaks did not have professional operators," Inspector Kishor Dumal said.

"Volunteers of Vanyajeev Rakshak Maval and Shiv Durg Trekkers Organisation helped in the search operation. Bharsake''s body was fished out Wednesday late evening. Ahire's body was found this afternoon," he added.

Nilesh Garade of the Vanjyajeev Rakshak Mandal said no rope was tied around the kayak to help in such a situation, while one of kayakers is seen using a wooden paddle instead of a proper kayaking paddle. PTI SPK BNM