In a first, police stop entry to Bushi dam after 3 pm

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Lonavala division) Vaibhav Kalubarme, said, “Most of the deceased are college students or young professionals. In spite of repeated warnings, signage boards many of them try to climb against the water flow and rocky cascades. When there are showers, there is a sudden rise in volume of water and most accidents take place then. People fall down on slippery surface, get injured and drown.”

Inspector I S Patil of Lonavala town police said, “From Friday, we will prohibit entry to the dam area at 3 pm and evacuate the surroundings at 5 pm. We will impose fines on tourists who climb rocks of waterfalls. Those who break the rule of timings will also be fined.”

Inspector Patil added, “It had been observed that a lot of people consume alcohol. Fines will also be imposed on them. During monsoons, on a weekday, at least 50 to 60 policemen are deployed in the area. We increase the number on weekends when visitors are in thousands. But even this is not sufficient. People wander into the forest area around the dam. There are several waterfalls and ponds and it is impossible to deploy personnel at all of them.”

Police say that some lifeguards have been deployed while members of local groups voluntarily work as life guards.

“But these lifeguards cannot do anything when people stray into the forest.”

Traffic and pollution is another problem. A police officer said, “Thousands of vehicles choke the roads to the dam and those in Lonavala town. We are barely able to manage traffic. But it is saddening to see people littering and polluting this natural wealth. The forest department should take steps in this regard.

The dam is under Mumbai division of the Central Railways. In the British era, train engines required a lot of water and Indian Railways had control over the dam.