A Bihar’s family journey from Ujjain to Goa turned into a harrowing experience when they discovered that they had ended up stranding in a dense forest of Karnataka’s Belagavi district by relying on Google maps.
Relying on Google maps for direction, Ranjit Das and his family chose a route through the Shiroli and Hemmadaga areas, which eventually led them into 7-8 kilometers deep into the Bhimgad forest of Karnataka.
The incident was reported on late December 4.
However, the difficulties escalated as the family had to spend the entire night in their vehicle, for there was no network in the forest. They remained isolated in the potentially dangerous terrain that is home to a diverse wildlife.
The next day, when they regained the network coverage, they connected to emergency services on 112. Following this, the local authorities reached the location and rescued them.
Khanapur police inspector Manjunath Nayak said, “The Belagavi police control room passed the information to the Khanapur police, who used GPS coordinates to locate the family and reach them with the help of villagers”, as quoted by media reports.
Notably, this is not the first time that Google maps has come under fire for suggesting wrong directions. Earlier in November, three men died after their vehicle fell off an incomplete bridge while they were following a route shown on the app.
They were headed to a wedding in Uttar Pradesh.
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SHOCKING! Family relies on Google maps to reach Goa, ends up in…, here’s what happened
