VALPOI
The body of a youth from Gogol“Margao was retrieved from the river behind the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya at Valpoi, after he had drowned while bathing on Sunday.
According to sources, Mahabali Patel (27) had reportedly gone to Valpoi to celebrate Eid with his relatives. He later went to the river with some friends, but began to struggle and disappeared in the river.
A team led by Santosh Gawas (SFO) from the Valpoi fire station conducted a search operation till late Sunday night. The search operation resumed on Monday morning, and after scanning multiple locations, the body was found at some distance from the original spot around 11 am.
The body was retrieved from the river and a Valpoi police team conducted the panchanama before sending the body to the GMC hospital for a post-mortem examination. Police have recorded statements of the victim’s friends.
This incident has once again brought attention to the rising number of drowning cases in the rivers of Sattari taluka.
Several rivers in Sattari taluka have check dams constructed by the irrigation department, leading to a significant increase in water levels. As a result, the depth of the water is difficult to assess. In some places, the riverbed is deep, while in others there are sudden drop-offs, increasing the risk.
For non-swimmers, these rivers are extremely dangerous, and drowning incidents have risen in recent years. Locals have appealed to citizens to extra caution while entering rivers and to avoid deep waters, while bathing only in shallow, safer areas.
