A monsoon outing turned tragic on Sunday, June 15, when three college students from Navi Mumbai, including a 16-year-old minor, drowned in Charlotte Lake in Matheran. The victims were part of a ten-member group from Koparkhairane who had travelled to the hill station for a day trip.
After visiting the Pisharnath Temple, the group went to Charlotte Lake, where one of the students accidentally slipped into the water. In a desperate rescue attempt, two of his friends jumped in but all three were pulled under and drowned. The rest of the group immediately alerted nearby locals, who informed authorities.
The Matheran Police, along with the Sahyadri Emergency Rescue Team, launched an urgent search operation that continued late into the night. Despite all efforts, the bodies of the three youths—identified as Sumit Chavan (16), Aryan Khobragade (19), and Firoz Shaikh (19)—were recovered lifeless.
Tragedy compounded later that day in Pune district’s Talegaon area, where a dilapidated bridge over the Indrayani River collapsed under the pressure of an overcrowded crowd. Four people were killed and 51 injured in the incident. The deceased were identified as Chandrakant Salve, Rohit Mane, Vihaan Mane, and one unidentified individual.
According to a survivor, the chaos began when people and vehicles from both sides clogged the narrow bridge. “There was a huge crowd on the bridge. The road was jammed. The crowd gathered at one place, and the bridge collapsed. People standing in the middle of the bridge were swept away. We fell on the stones and got injured,” he told ANI.
Officials believe that the bridge’s structural failure was due to excessive load, and have initiated a probe into the condition of similar bridges in the region.
