Mumbai dabbawala among three killed in pre-monsoon tree collapse

Speaking to The Indian Express, Namdeo Choudhary, chief fire officer, Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) said, “On Tuesday night, sudden winds and rainfall swept the area. Owing to this, a huge Gulmohar tree collapsed and fell directly upon a rickshaw which was passing by, at that moment.” While the share auto was ferrying four passengers, one of the passengers managed to jump from the rickshaw in the nick of time, while three people remained trapped within. The impact of the heavy tree crushed the rickshaw, killing Verma and Raut instantly.

As the accident came to light, KDMC personnel including firefighters and ambulances were pressed to the site to rescue the victims who were taken to the nearby civic run Rukmani hospital. The rickshaw driver and the woman passenger were pronounced ‘brought dead’ while dabbawala Tukaram Khengle’s condition remained critical. However, late on Tuesday, officials from KDMC said that Khengle succumbed to his injuries.

Tukaram Khengle had been working as a dabbawala for the past 25 years, and was the sole breadwinner in his family of four. He is survived by his wife, and two children. According to his peers from the Mumbai Dabbawala Association, Khengle had been a resident of Ghatkopar and had moved to Kalyan some years ago. “Starting his day early at 8 am, he would deliver dabbas along the Central line railway route starting from Ghatkopar and to Byculla,” recalled Subhash Talekar, president of the Mumbai Dabbawala Association. On Tuesday, Tukaram Khengle was returning from his shift when he met with an accident.

Following the incident, Khengle’s body was taken to his village in Pune’s Rajgurunagar taluka wherein his last rites were performed.

Like Khengle, Raut and Verma were also residents of Kalyan’s Chinchpada area.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Talekar said that the association is set to approach the Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and the deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde, appealing for financial assistance for Khengle’s family.

Meanwhile, Abhinav Goel, KDMC commissioner said that the municipal body has already identified dangerous trees across Kalyan – Dombivli areas. “We will be taking appropriate action on such dangerous trees identified in our report in a bid to prevent further accidents in the future,” Goel told reporters, while assessing the spot of the mishap.

Fill tree basins on roadside with soil: BMC to contractors

Additional Municipal Commissioner (Projects) of the BMC Abhijit Bangar on Wednesday instructed its contractors to ensure that all the tree basins on the roadside should be filled with soil.

“The deployed manpower should be increased and all the debris gathered on the road should be cleared off before they are made operational. After completing the works the roadside tree basins should also be filled with soil,” Bangar said, while inspecting the ongoing road concretising work in Mumbai.

Meanwhile, according to the BMC’s data, over 2,400 trees got damaged due to the ongoing concreting works since the work started in 2023.

Following the inspection, Bangar also stated that the final phase of the ongoing concreting works have been commenced and the process of filling the roads with concrete blocks will be completed by May 20.