The Horrors Of Pawan Khind

 Summer camps have always been fun for everyone. Today, I will narrate one of the incidents that happened with us during a summer trip to Amba Ghat.

Amba ghat is a mountain pass on Ratnagiri-Kolhapur road in Maharashtra situated near the village of Amba. It is known for its lush green environment and mesmerizing views of the Sahyadri mountain ranges.

The beginning

Our school, in association with Insearch Outdoors, had arranged a summer camp to Amba Ghat. Around, 30+ students enrolled for it, including me. We departed on 18th 2019. The trip was scheduled for 3 days and 2 nights. We departed from Pune and reached our destination, safe and sound.

Everything was going well, the first day went very well, our group enjoyed it a lot, until the second day..............

Background of Pawan Khind

Pawan Khind is a mountain pass in the vicinity of Fort Vishalgad. It is most known for the courageous battle fought by Baji Prabhu Deshpande to prevent the Adilshahi Army from reaching Fort Vishalgad until Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and his forces reach there.

Many tourists who visit Amba ghat definitely visit this place.

The incident-

Like other tourists, we were also going to visit Pawan Khind. 

We departed early morning from our campsite and reached there within three hours. As soon as we got down from the bus, we took a stroll around the place where our buses were parked, everyone was excited very much but who knew an unprecedented event was waiting for us.

By the time some of my peers were buying fruits and refreshments from the stalls which were there.

After clicking some photos we climbed down the stairs which were going down to the main place of the Khind. We also saw the memorial of Baji Prabhu Deshpande.

Now, coming to the incident- After getting down till the memorial we were supposed to climb down a ladder that went to the actual Khind. Now we were in the actual khind and now we had to go a bit further to a seasonal pond which was there.

After reaching the pond everyone started drinking water and filling their bottles with the water of the pond, but no one noticed the bees there, after drinking water and enjoying we started coming back one by one until we heard the screams of a boy. No sooner than anyone could understand a huge swarm of bees attacked our group and started stinging the students who were at the back. Fortunately, I was ahead and could run faster, but the main challenge came when we had to climb the ladder about which I told you earlier. Until now many of the students had got stung by the bees but I managed to escape it and run to the bus.

Going Further-

I was one of the first to reach the bus. One by one student began to come, they were in huge pain and distress. None of the instructors were there to guide us. But, I along with other students who get a sting started to help. We first closed all the doors and windows of the bus preventing more bees from coming in. By that time many students came in the bus, some were crying some were in shock and most of them had panicked. I and my friends had nothing, that we could do. Suddenly an idea stricked us, we gathered all the water bottles from the bus and asked the students, who got stung, to drink as much as they could. We also gave them the Glucon-D which was available with us to avoid the exhaustion of energy. The owners of the stalls also helped by giving us lemonade, which helped in increasing the energy.

By this time almost everyone had returned except those who had collapsed in the kind. The locals also helped us in bringing everyone from down. After returning and taking a count of all students both the buses rushed to the local hospital which was at Malkapur, which was around 17 km away.

Now, we were separated into two groups, the ones who had been stung and the ones who hadn't. After reaching the hospital those who hadn't been stung return to the campsite and those who had got a stung were administered 2 doses of injections, after which they felt relieved. But, our lead instructor had to be rushed to Chatrapati Pramila Raje hospital in Kolhapur in an ambulance, as he had been stung by over 50+ bees, even a bee entered his ear. We reached the campsite and had our lunch, eventually, others also returned. And finally, a series of horrific events ended here.

Later in the evening we played some games and had regained our energy. Some people even called their parents which led to emotional breakdowns.

After all, this was an experience of a lifetime and had taught us a lot, only 5 boys and 17 girls were spared by the bees. 

This teaches us that how disturbing nature's cycle can lead to catastrophic events.

This was it for the week, meet you in the next blog with some more interesting topics till then, stay home, stay healthy and stay safe!!