Day after tree fell over him, sweeper develops paraplegia

The 45-year-old remains paralysed waist down with a fracture in his right hand and another fracture to his femur bone and ankle. The family on Tuesday filed a non-congnisable complaint against the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation at Dadar police station.

45-year-old Laxminarayan Bashirabad remains paralysed waist down with fractures in his right hand, femur bone and ankle.

A day after Laxminarayan Bashirabad suffered a spinal fracture because of a tree fall near his home on Bhavani Road, Dadar West, doctors in KEM hospital confirmed diagnosis of paraplegia on Tuesday. The 45-year-old remains paralysed waist down with a fracture in his right hand and another fracture to his femur bone and ankle. The family on Tuesday filed a non-congnisable complaint against the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation at Dadar police station.

“He was the main earning member in our family. I had only started with a job,” said son Vishal Bashirabad, adding they have already paid Rs 20,000 for Bashirabad’s treatment in the KEM hospital. “We have been told we may need to pay Rs 50,000 more. Where will we get this sum from?”

Bashirabad works as contractual sweeper in BMC earning Rs 4,000 every month. On Monday morning, he was sitting on a wooden bench with his neighbours when the tree collapsed. “The trunk fell on top of me. I was few feet away from the tree but there was no time to escape. It happened so suddenly,” he said. “I can’t feel my legs anymore. How will I work?” he said at KEM hospital’s orthopaedic ward.

Along with Bashirabad, two other local residents — Vikas Baile (45) and Haresh Prabhu (42) — were also injured. While Prabhu was discharged after treatment on Monday, Baile has been admitted with minor injuries in KEM hospital.

According to Vishal, the tree was very old and had started bending before it finally collapsed. Doctors treating him said that Bashirabad’s condition remains critical due to nerve damage. “The nerve damage in spine seems irreversible. We are monitoring him but there are other fractures in his body too,” said a senior doctor.

On Monday, the BMC recorded 39 incidents of tree fall in Mumbai following heavy pre-monsoon showers that lashed the city. According to Jeetendra Pardeshi, BMC’s tree and gardens department superintendent, seven trees were cut in Dadar area following the mishap. “We have started pre-monsoon tree trimming in all wards. Awareness activity has also started to ask residents to inform us,” said Pardeshi.

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