Thane district collector Mahendra Kalyankar, who was inspecting sites of illegal sand dredging in a speed boat, was rescued after the vessel hit a rock and got stuck in the middle of Kalyan creek on Saturday afternoon.
The collector was accompanied by 15 others in the boat, confirmed an official.
Kalyankar has undertaken a drive to clear the Kalyan creek of illegal dredging and has seized equipment worth over Rs 100 crores and illegally excavated sand worth around Rs 90 lakhs in last two-days.
In continuation of the drive, the collector went for the inspection of the site at around 3 PM. He was accompanied by around 15 persons in the speed boat which included the local Prant (revenue department official) and the tehsildar, said the official.
Around 3.30 PM the boat hit a rock due to the high tide and got stuck. Soon an emergency message was sent following which the personnel from Kalyan Dombivali fire brigade reached the spot and rescued the occupants of the speed boat to safety.
Sub-officer of Kalyan Dombivali Municipal Corporation (KDMC) Namdeo Chowdhary who confirmed the incident said that they rescued all the occupants of the boat.
