For the past 48 hours, Maval taluka has been battered by continuous heavy rainfall. On the night of August 19, 2025, around 12.30 am, villagers near Gondumbre reported hearing cries of “Help! Save me!” from the riverside and immediately informed Talegaon Dabhade Police Station.
On receiving the message, Police Constable Prashant Sonawane alerted Nilesh Garade, founder of the Wildlife Rescuer Maval organisation. Garade quickly informed the disaster management committee of the group. Responding swiftly, team members Vinay Sawant and Kamlesh Rakshe, along with officers and staff from Talegaon Dabhade Police Station, reached the spot despite heavy rain. They launched a rescue operation and pulled the woman safely out from the floodwaters, where she had been clinging to a tree.
The rescued woman was given preliminary medical treatment and admitted to a hospital.
Describing the incident, Garade told Mid-day, “On Tuesday late night, police officials from Crime Branch Unit 5 were also patrolling the Shirgaon–Kasarsai road near the Pavana river bridge. While on patrol, they too heard cries for help from the river. The Crime Branch team immediately contacted me. I alerted my team members, who always take initiative in carrying out such timely disaster management.”
Team members Vinay Maruti Sawant from Gondumbre and Kamlesh Rakshe, along with villagers, joined hands with the police and managed to rescue the stranded woman. Garade added that the woman was holding onto a tree branch to save herself from flooding. It was very dark, but with the help of a torch and her voice, they reached the spot. She started crying when they caught her, but the team consoled her, saying ‘kahi nahi honar’.
There was water almost up to shoulder height when the rescue team, with the help of a big rope, managed to reach the woman.
The woman was later identified as Meenakshi Manoj Parade, a resident of Somatane village near Talegaon Dabhade. She was safely brought out of the Pavana river floodwaters, shifted into an ambulance, and rushed to Pavana Hospital, Somatane, for urgent medical treatment.
Senior Police Inspector Santosh Kasbe of Crime Branch Unit 5 confirmed the details and praised the coordinated efforts of police officers, villagers, and the Wildlife Rescuer Maval team.
The Wildlife Rescuer Maval organisation has, for several years, been assisting villagers during the monsoon season in rescue operations and other emergencies in the Maval belt. The group also played an active role in saving tourists during the recent Indrayani River bridge collapse incident, working around the clock to rescue stranded people. Nearly 250 villager volunteers had joined the band.
Schools in the Maval belt declared a holiday on Wednesday due to flooding.
Villagers added that those villages with old bridges get submerged in heavy rain, while the newer bridges mostly do not get submerged.
