UDUPI: As heavy showers continued to pound the state, a youth fell into a waterfall, while a 13-year-old mentally challenged girl drowned in an overflowing stream in Udupi district. The 23-year-old youth from Bhadravati in Shivamogga district, who was posing for an Instagram reel, slipped into the Arasinagundi Falls in Kollur police limits here on Sunday evening.
In the video that has gone viral, the deceased, Sharath Kumar, is seen standing on a rock posing for the reel. He shuffles his feet ever so slightly, but slips and falls into the roaring waters in a fraction of a second.
On Monday, Sharath’s family members arrived in Kollur and diving expert Eshwar Malpe from Malpe reached the spot to assist fire and emergency services and police department staff to trace the body. They were not successful till late on Monday evening.
The search will continue on Tuesday, said Jayashree Honnur, sub-inspector at Kollur police station.
Though there is a ban on trekking in the area during monsoon months, Sharath and his friend Gururaj had walked 6 km before reaching the falls in the Mookambika Wildlife Sanctuary in Kollur which comes under the Kudremukh Wildlife Division.
Teen drowns in Udupi dist
“They had no permission. They took the risk at their personal level. At all tourism department-designated waterfalls, the district administration has deputed staff to caution tourists against venturing into waterfalls,” said Udupi SP Akshay M Hakay. Ganapathi K, DCF, Kudremukh Wildlife Division, Karkala, told TNIE that all trekking paths are closed during the rainy season.
The deceased and his friend might have passed without being noticed by the Village Forest Committee at Dali area in Kollur. People should not go for such misadventures, he said. At Mundubailu in Udupi district, the 13-year-old mentally challenged girl, Rachana, was washed away in a stream. She was accompanying her grandmother Sadhamma Shedthi, who was taking her cows for grazing, when the incident occurred around 11 am on Sunday. The body was found 2 km downstream in the afternoon.