Bath in river turns tragic! Eight drown in Gujarat’s Gandhinagar during Ganesh Visarjan

At least eight people were killed on Friday while bathing in the Meshwo river of Gujarat — with rescue operations continuing till late into the evening. The incident took place in Vasna Sogathi village with locals sounding the alarm after coming to the site in Gandhinagar to immerse a Ganapati idol.

“Nine youths from Vasna Sogathi village came to the dam on Meshwo River at noon. They were bathing here when an idol of Lord Ganesh came for Visarjan. Out of those nine people, one was drowning while bathing. So, other people also came to save him,” recounted DT Gohil – the Gandhinagar Deputy SP.

Officials have recovered eight bodies so far — in line with eyewitness accounts. SDRF and NDRF teams however remain deployed in the area to ensure that no other person is missing from the area.

Meanwhile Sub Divisional Magistrate BB Modiya (who supervised the search and rescue operation) said the authorities were alerted after a group of villagers came to the waterbody to immerse Ganesh idols and learnt about the drowning. 

"After getting a message, police and fire brigade personnel rushed to the site. We recovered eight bodies from the river. One person who was assumed to be missing was later found moving about in the village. So the rescue operation, which continued till late evening, was called off," he said. “The deceased were locals who had come to bathe in the river. They may have misjudged the river's depth since its water level has risen recently due to an under-construction check dam a little distance away,” he told PTI.

The 10-day-long Ganesh Chaturthi festival commenced last week on Friday. It is slated to continue till Anant Chaturdashi. Many opt for shortened versions of the festival (depending on personal or religious practices) with the immersion done after 1.5 days or on the third day. Other alternatives include the fifth day visarjan and the seventh day visarjan.