Peddapalli: Gourigundala waterfalls closed due to heavy water flow

Peddapalli ACP Krishna said the water flow at the spot was heavy due to the continuous rainfall during the last four days. There were incidents of youths dying at waterfalls. So, it was temporarily closed to avoid such incidents.

Peddapalli: In the wake of the continuous rains triggering heavy waterflow at the Gourigundala waterfall, the Basanthnagar police has decided to close the waterfalls to the public from Sunday to avert any untoward incidents.

This is because two youngsters had lost their lives at the waterfalls in 2023 and 2022. Besides closing the road towards the waterfalls by placing barricades, a police check-post has also been set up in the village to prevent the people from moving towards waterfalls. A warning board was also set up at the beginning of the road which leads to the waterfalls.

Peddapalli ACP Krishna said the water flow at the spot was heavy due to the continuous rainfall during the last four days. There were incidents of youths dying at waterfalls. So, it was temporarily closed to avoid such incidents. The ACP asked villagers to prevent visitors if anybody tried to reach the spot using other routes. Visitors would be allowed to waterfalls for two to three days after the heavy flow came down, he said.

Located three kilometres away from Sabbitham village and 10 kilometres from the district headquarters on the Peddapalli-Manthani main road, the Gourigundala waterfalls became alive following the continuous rainfall during the last four days. Hearing about this, people from surrounding areas started visiting the spot to have the glimpse of the water rolling down from the top of the Gattusingaram hills. Besides taking selfies standing in front of the waterfalls, visitors also were taking bath under the waterfalls.

On July 26 last year, a youngster Manupati Venkatesh Prasad drowned in the waterfalls. A native of Kisannagar of Karimnagar town, Venkatesh along with his friends had gone to the spot to enjoy the scenic beauty of the waterfall but he drowned while taking a bath.

On July 11, 2022, a youngster also died after falling from the top of the waterfalls. While taking a selfie, he accidentally fell into waterfalls and died. After the death of the youth, gram panchayat authorities had set up a warning board at waterfalls advising the people not to climb the rocks for selfie pictures. However, there are many who still ignore the warnings.