Group defies warning to enter Yamuna river for Ganesh visarjan, four drown

New Delhi: Four people including two boys and two girls drowned in the Yamuna during the traditional Ganesh visarjan in Delhi's Alipur on Thursday evening. Sources said that the victims who were the part of a group were warned not to enter the Yamuna but they did not pay heed to the advice of the civil defence and police force present at the ghats and sneaked their way in the river where four drowned at around 8:30 pm.

A massive search operation was launched by civil defence teams combined with fire department and disaster management. Later the bodies of the four were recovered from near Palla Bakhtawarpur village in the early hours of Friday.

The Fire Department received information regarding the drowning around 8:30 pm on Thursday, officials said. A fire tender was rushed to the spot and rescue operation was initiated. The bodies were subsequently recovered.

According to police, information of four people drowning in the Yamuna river near 'thoker' number 17 was received around the same time by the Fire Department.

During the inquiry, it was found that a group of around 30 people were on their way to bathe in the Yamuna river after performing Ganesh puja.

"They were stopped at Shani Mandir and Bakhtawarpur, and advised by civil defence and police staff to avoid bathing in the river," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer North), Gaurav Sharma said. The group had initially agreed to the requests but eventually, eight of them did enter the river, Sharma said.

"They also picked up a fight with us when we tried to stop them. Some of our bikes were also broken by them. They sneaked their way in the river from some other side without our knowledge," said a civil defence volunteer.

Police were informed that eight people, who were bathing on the banks of the Yamuna, had ventured into deeper water, following which four of them drowned, officials said.

The deceased have been identified as Umesh Yadav (20), Priyanka (20), Pinki (21) and Nikit (21), all residents of Nihal Vihar, Nangloi.

The incident happened despite police and civil defence groups tried bringing awareness among people not to immerse idols in Yamuna and rather opt for designated safe spots.