Police and rescue teams on Wednesday, July 26, reached the 42 tourists stranded at the Muthyala Dhara waterfalls in a forest near Veerabhadravaram village of Venkatapuram mandal, in Telangana’s Mulugu district due to rising water levels.
The incident occurred even though the police had earlier reportedly warned the trekkers against proceeding to the waterfall due to heavy rains.
Despite the warning, the trekkers chose to take an alternative route, parked their vehicles at Veerabhadrampuram, and walked 9 km through dense forest terrain to reach the site.They were trapped when the water level suddenly rose.
Incessant rains continued to lash Telangana, which is under red alert, leading to inundation of low-lying areas and disruption of road links at several places on Wednesday.
Rescue operation underway
Mulugu Superintendent of Police, Gouse Alam took to social media and said that efforts are underway to bring back the tourists.
In a tweet, he said he had spoken to the tourists stuck at Muthyala Dhara, adding that rescue teams had been sent, including the District Disaster Relief Force and the National Disaster Relief Force teams.
He added that instructions were passed to the tourists to stay on higher ground and save their mobile batteries.
Authorities also carried food items and other rescue equipment to the stranded tourists.
Earlier, the rescue teams faced challenging conditions due to the ongoing heavy rainfall and had to navigate a long stretch on foot to reach the stranded tourists.
