A tragic incident occurred at the Chinchoti Waterfall in Vasai, Maharashtra, on Monday, July 14, 2025, where two college students from Mumbai drowned. The victims have been identified as Pralhad Shahjarav, 22, and Sushil Dabhale, 24.
According to reports, a group of six college students from Goregaon visited the Chinchoti Waterfall and entered a stream for swimming between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m.. Tragically, Pralhad and Sushil misjudged the strength of the water current and were swept away. Their friends, Amit Yadav, Vilas Kadam, Subhash Sarkar, and Pawan Pandey, all aged 19 and residents of Goregaon, survived the incident.
After the incident, the surviving friends immediately alerted the Bapane police outpost around 1 p.m.. Assistant Police Inspector Balaram Palkar, along with three officers and other staff from the Bapane outpost, promptly responded and launched a rescue operation with the fire brigade. The search operation continued until 5 p.m., when the bodies of both youths were recovered.
The bodies were sent to Juchandra Hospital in an ambulance for postmortem. The Naigaon police have registered a case and begun an investigation.
Police have stated that the Chinchoti area is currently under restrictions, with banners and warning boards placed at several points to prevent entry to the site. Additionally, police personnel have been deployed to prevent such incidents.
This is not the first time tragedy has struck at the Chinchoti Waterfall. In July 2023, three youngsters drowned at the falls over two days, despite restrictions being in place. In one incident, a group of six friends from Nalasopara reached the waterfall after trekking for two hours. Roshan Rathod, 19, and Ravi Jha, 18, misjudged the water flow and were carried away by the strong current. In a separate incident, Sumit Yadav, 18, from Vile Parle, drowned after being swept away by the heavy water flow. In 2006, three youths from Mumbai and Navi Mumbai drowned at the Chinchoti waterfall.
Authorities have repeatedly cautioned picnickers against entering water bodies, especially during the monsoon season. The Chinchoti Waterfall is a popular trekking trail, but the surrounding rocks are slippery, and the water currents can be deceptively strong. The National Library of Medicine has identified drowning as the second biggest cause of death from accidental injuries, behind traffic accidents.
