Maharashtra monsoon session: Nana Patole demands facilities for safety of tourists at picnic spots during monsoon

Nana Patole. File Pic

Amid ongoing Maharashtra monsoon session, Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole on Monday questioned the state government about the facilities it has set up for the safety of tourists at picnic spots during monsoons and the steps it has taken to prevent accidents, reported news agency PTI.

Nana Patole raised the issue in the state legislative assembly a day after five persons got swept away at Bhushi dam in Lonavala.

While the bodies of four, including three children, have been recovered, police, Navy divers and other rescue teams are searching for a four-year-old boy.

The government must clarify the steps it is taking to prevent such mishaps at picnic spots during monsoons, the Congress leader said, reported PTI.

Patole also demanded that the authorities provide facilities to persons who stage protests at Azad Maidan in Mumbai, reported PTI.

"There is mud and dirt all around at Azad Maidan. Is the government waiting for a mishap to happen?" he asked during the ongoing Maharashtra monsoon session, reported PTI.

He also demanded the rehabilitation of slum dwellers in Powai whose homes had been demolished by authorities.

Meanwhile, rescue teams on Monday morning recovered the body of one of the two missing children, who along with three other family members got swept away at a waterfall near the Bhushi Dam in Pune's Lonavala area, officials told PTI.

Search was on for the other missing child, the officials told PTI.

On Sunday, a group of persons got swept away by the gushing water caused by intense rainfall in the region.

After the tragic incident, the rescue teams on Sunday recovered the bodies of a 36-year-old woman and two minor girls.

Police, Navy divers and other rescue teams on Monday resumed the search for the two missing children and recovered the body of Mariya Ansari (9) from a reservoir near the accident spot, a senior official from Pune rural police told PTI.

Search was still on for the other missing child - Adnan Sabhahat Ansari (4), he told PTI.

A heart-wrenching video of the incident showed a group of 9-10 persons, including those who lost their lives, stranded in the middle of a stream with flood waters gushing down and crying for help while their relatives and other people asking them to hold on to each other.

As the water flow increased, first a woman carrying a small boy, and another girl were seen getting swept away. Later, the remaining persons were also swept away in the waters.

A search team on Sunday recovered the bodies of Shahista Liaqat Ansari (36), Amima Adil Ansari (13) and Umera Adil Ansari (8) from the reservoir downstream, reported PTI.

(With inputs from PTI)