PUNE: Heavy rush to various forts, including Sinhagad, Lohagad, Visapur, among others, stranded trekkers and visitors on Sunday.
Many tourists and even trekkers also faced a difficult time while descending from the forts owing to the narrow and slippery trails.
Visitors to the Lohagad Fort complained about lack of representatives from the administration or the local police in managing the crowd. A forest department official said that 33 personnel were posted at the Sinhagad Fort, but the rush came suddenly. He said that the forest department collected Rs3 lakh as parking fees from around 3,000 vehicles on Sunday at Sinhagad Fort. An estimated 15,000 people visited the fort, the official added.
Shirish Rane, who visited Lohagad Fort on Sunday, said, “We were a group of 10 trekkers who had gone to the fort from Akurdi. We had a safe climb, but as we reached the Hanuman point entry of the fort, the crowd started gathering. We decided to go up a little higher towards the fort and return immediately. However, when we came back after 30 minutes, we got almost trapped in the crowd.”
A group of trekkers from Pune’s Forest Fighters adventure club was stranded at Lohagad. Trek organiser, Vishal Raut, said, “We had taken at least 15 advanced-level trekkers on Sunday and the situation was terrible. Some of the trekking groups took matter into their hands and slowly groups of people were sent from the steps of the fort to the base.”
The Archaeological Survey of India is in charge of Lohagad Fort. ASI officer Nikant Kumar, said, “The sudden rush of visitors to the fort on both Saturday and Sunday was unexpected. We had nine officers on duty, but they were not enough to manage the huge crowd. We have requested the state government for more police force to man the crowd on weekends.”
Kumar also stated that if there was a way to restrict entry to the fort beyond a certain limit, then the ASI would also think about it.
At the Sinhagad Fort, too, the ghat section and the top of the fort were packed with revellers. Kumar said nearly 7,000 visitors reached the top of the fort on Sunday. However, those stranded stated that the number was almost double than that estimated by the administration.
Range forest officer Pradip Sankpal, said, “For the next few weeks, we will deploy more people to manage the crowd and also not allow visitors to wait at the top of the fort for a very long time.”
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