Andheri woman swept away in open drain, BMC initiates inquiry, passes buck to MMRCL

As per the BMC bulletin, the incident took place around 9.20 pm and Vimal’s body was recovered by the Mumbai Fire Brigade around 11.27 pm from the storm water drain outfall near Veravali Reservoir outlet, 200 metres away from the spot where she fell.

“As it was raining heavily yesterday, we were trying to contact her in the evening, but her phone remained unreachable. We assumed she was working overtime, and would be home by 9 pm at the most,” Sangeeta Shivsaran,
Gaikwad’s niece and neighbour told The Indian Express on Thursday.

“However, we got really worried when we couldn’t get in touch even after 9 pm. At around 11.30 pm, we got a call from the police station and got to know what happened,” Sangeeta says.

Vimal, the family’s sole breadwinner, worked as a security guard in a diamond factory at MIDC. Everyday she would take BEST bus number 496 for her commute from the bus stop opposite to her office and get down at Powai, from where she would walk home to the modest chawl in Milind Nagar. Vimal is survived by her husband – Anil (56) who lives confined at home since he is specially abled.

As for the drain, at present, the culverts are covered with concrete slabs over which plastic barricades are being placed by the traffic department. Locals recall that till yesterday, the drain was open and one could see the water flowing below.

“Yesterday, when it was raining, the entire road was inundated. With the water level above the road, it would be difficult for anybody to figure out the presence of an open drain there,” said Farhan Shaikh, a local shop-owner.
“The drain opening was a death trap. Our entire family is finished due to the carelessness of administrative authorities. My uncle (Anil) has special needs, and he was dependent on our aunt for every little thing, now how will he survive without her ?” questioned Sangeeta.

Inquiry, blame game

A day after the incident, the BMC initiated a high level probe. Issuing a statement, civic authorities said that municipal commissioner Bhushan Gagrani has appointed a probe committee which is expected to submit a report within three days. The committee is headed by deputy municipal commissioner Devidas Kshirsagar, Mumbai’s chief fire officer Ravindra Ambulgekar and BMC’s vigilance officer Avinash Tambewagh.

Officials of the civic body, which is incharge of roads and SWD in the area, said the MIDC central road was handed over to Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) temporarily as it was executing a civil project for underground Mumbai Metro Line 3.

When The Indian Express contacted MMRDA, they maintained that the jurisdiction of the road lies with Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRCL), considering they are in charge of the said Metro project.

Meanwhile, considering the said project was nearing completion, the BMC, before taking back possession of the road, carried out a joint inspection on June 15 along with metro officials and contractors who were executing the work. Following this, civic authorities pointed out shortfalls and damages on the road surface and urged the authorities to repair the road before handing it over to BMC.

“During the site inspection, shortfalls/defects were observed at the site including damaged road dividers, damaged stamp concrete on the footpath, cracks on the newly constructed road surface, incomplete work in SWD network, among others. Further, you are requested to carry out the above mentioned defects and incomplete work and then inform this (BMC) office, so as to complete the process of handing over of the road,” reads a BMC letter sent to one of the metro contractors on July 11, this year.

“Since the incomplete work was not finished, the handing over of the roads is yet to take place. Therefore, for the time being, the responsibility of maintaining the roads lies with Metro authorities,” said a civic official.

An MMRCL spokesperson however has clarified. He said, “MMRCL would like to clarify that the recent drowning incident in Andheri is not related to Metro 3 construction. MMRC has completed its work in MIDC Andheri and the road has been restored. The portion where the incident occurred was beyond the construction area of MMRCL work. In any case, there are no openings or excavations related to MMRCL work on the road.”

Civic officials told The Indian Express there was an open cross culvert where the incident took place. “The storm water drain flows beneath the road and due to the rains the entire road was inundated. Quite naturally the force of water was very strong so the victim got swept away immediately after falling into the drain,” said an official.