Drowning collegian cries for help, 3 rush to rescue; all 4 drown

NAVI MUMBAI: Four students of colleges in Mumbai drowned in the backwaters of a dam in Raigad Friday afternoon. One of the youngsters had ventured into the deep and found himself struggling to stay afloat when three of his friends tried to drag him to safety, but all four drowned, the police said.
All four, who were part of National Cadet Corps, had gone on a trek with 33 others in the backwaters of Morbe dam at Khalapur.The group had descended the fort around 1.30 pm and entered the backwaters at the foot of the hill.
That is when one of the students, Eklavya Singh (18), ventured into the deep. His cries for help alerted the other students. Three of them - Ranath Banda (18), Ishant Yadav (19) and Akash Mane (26) - rushed to help Singh. However, all the four youths drowned.
Senior inspector of Khalapur police station, Milind Khopade, said the four were declared dead at the local public hospital, Two of them studied at Rizvi College, Bandra, while the other two were from other colleges in the city. While Singh and Banda lived in Palghar, Yadav was from Khar, and Mane from Colaba.
The four were brought out of the water by locals and members of an NGO, Apghatgrashthnache Madalita.
Superintendent of police for Raigad district, Somnath Gharge, pointed out that it is risky to venture into water bodies especially during the monsoon. "Despite knowing this, many people, mostly youngsters, ignore basic safety for revelry," he said, adding that barbed wire fencing should be installed along river Dhawari to prohibit picnickers from entering the backwaters during the rains.