A farmer’s final journey: Lives upended by the Mankhurd BEST bus crash

“My father-in-law had come to Mumbai a few days ago for a family function. This morning he was heading to Pune to visit one of his daughters,” said his son-in-law, Sachin Digambar Pawar, outside Rajawadi Hospital’s post-mortem centre. A farmer from Dharashiv, Kagade is survived by his wife, three daughters and a son.

Pointing to the accident site, Pawar said the stretch had witnessed several crashes. “That spot on the highway is highly accident-prone. How many more lives will BEST buses claim?” he asked. The 10 injured were admitted to Shatabdi and Rajawadi hospitals, where doctors said most had suffered fractures requiring surgery or prolonged treatment.

Among them is 42-year-old Shivmangal Maithi, who was returning home after completing a night shift on an oil tanker. “My stop was approaching, so I was standing in the aisle. Suddenly, the bus lurched forward and rammed into the divider. Everyone standing fell ahead. Some seats broke and those sitting were thrown forward,” he recalled.

Twenty-two-year-old Ankita Jadhav was on her way to work at a call centre when the crash abruptly turned her commute into a hospital stay.

For 42-year-old vegetable vendor Lata Waghela, the consequences may be even more severe. The family’s only earning member, she travels daily to the Vashi APMC market to buy vegetables and fruit for resale in Mankhurd. With a fractured arm and chest injuries, doctors estimate she may be unable to work for at least six months.

Dr Shubhangi Ghodke, medical officer in charge of Shatabdi Hospital, said seven of the eight patients admitted there had fractures. “One patient, 24-year-old Ganesh Patel, suffered multiple fractures in his hand along with nerve compression and has been referred to Sion Hospital,” she said.

Meanwhile, bus driver Banvari Shriram Prasad Sharma, 51, who is admitted to Rajawadi Hospital, blamed the accident on brake failure.
“An autorickshaw suddenly swerved in front of the bus. I applied the brakes, but they did not respond as expected,” Sharma said, adding that contract drivers are assigned different buses every shift, making it difficult to assess each vehicle’s condition beforehand.

Monday’s crash came days after a BEST bus struck a 63-year-old man in Bhandup and rammed into parked vehicles. In June, another BEST bus crashed into multiple vehicles, killing a 28-year-old Swiggy delivery executive. According to official data, more than 50 people have died in BEST-related accidents over the past two years, prompting the transport undertaking to tighten vehicle inspections and driver monitoring.