45 people stranded at waterfall in MP rescued, 8 missing

Shivpuri (MP), Aug 16: All 45 people stranded at the Sultangarh waterfall in Madhya Pradesh's Shivpuri district were rescued early this morning, an official said.

Five of them, who were stranded on a rock downstream, were rescued by a helicopter, Superintendent of Police (SP) Rajesh Hingankar said. At least eight people were swept away yesterday while bathing in the waterfall and 45 others stranded following a sudden surge in water due to heavy rain upstream, he said.

The waterfall is connected to the Parvati river. "Police teams, with the help of locals, rescued all the 45 people," Hingankar told PTI. He said family members of six people filed missing complaints as their kin, who went to the waterfall for a picnic on the occasion of Independence Day yesterday, were yet to be found.

A search operation was on to trace the missing persons, the SP said. Eyewitnesses had earlier claimed that more than 10 people, bathing in the waterfall, were swept away.

Early today, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, in a tweet, said those stranded in the waterfall were rescued with the help of the Border Security Force, State Disaster Response Force, Home Guards, and the local police and residents.

Chouhan thanked Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for extending support to deal with the situation. State minister Yashodhara Raje Scindia, who is an MLA from Shivpuri, thanked the Indian Air Force and other rescuers, including three villagers - Ramsevak Prajapati, Nizam and Ballu, for their help. The waterfall is located near Mohana village, 55 km from the district headquarters, in an area bordering Gwalior district. Tourists had thronged the place yesterday to celebrate Independence Day holiday. There was a sudden surge in water around 4.30 pm, possibly due to heavy rain upstream, catching those bathing in the waterfall unawares, police said quoting the locals.

Union Minister and Gwalior MP Narendra Singh Tomar reached the spot last evening and supervised the rescue operation till late night. Senior Congress leader and Guna MP Jyotiraditya Scindia spoke to senior officials over phone about the rescue operation.

PTI