125 trekkers stranded in Roha, around 1,000 others in Kolad

Navi Mumbai: A group of 125 trekkers from different parts of Pune was stuck in Roha, Raigad, since Saturday evening. Also, more than 1,000, including tourists, landed up at Kolad in the same taluka due to the Mumbai-Goa highway flooding.

Further, three teams in a joint operation on Sunday night rescued 36 inmates of a Kolad-based beggars home, located on the Kundalika riverside along the highway.The trekkers include professionals, techies, advocates and professors, among others. The group completed the Andharban trek on the Tamhini ghat stretch and scaled down to the Vira dam area, Mangaon taluka, in Raigad. However, they could not return to Mulshi owing to the closure of the Tamhini Ghat road.

Their attempt to return via Pali and the Expressway to Pune was aborted due to the flooded Mumbai-Goa highway.On Sunday, they sought the help of a Pune corporator, Baba Dhumal, who in turn contacted MP Sunil Tatkare. “Within a few minutes, all arrangements were made. We were given an accommodation at the Kalidas banquet hall. All are safe and likely to return on Tuesday,” said advocate Viraj Gopalghare, one of the trekkers.

The women and child development minister, Aditi Tatkare, posted: “The trekkers have been accommodated at the Kalidas hall. They were provided with relief material and food.”Mahesh Sanap of the rescue group Wilder West Adventure - Kolad, said, “Most of the over 1,000 stranded people visited various locations on account of the weekend. They could not return to Mumbai, Pune and other places as the Mumbai-Goa highway was shut. The highway contractors have blocked the natural path of rivers and channels for bridge and allied construction works, resulting in flooding.”He further said, “Our team, in addition to the local volunteers of ResQ-Pune and Sahyadri Vanyajeev Rakshanarth Samajik Sanstha – Kolad, evacuated the inmates of the hospital through river rafting.”