Worker dies while cleaning water tank in Jogeshwari; family suspects electrocution, negligence

Speaking to The Indian Express, Sunil Kurhade (37), the victim’s cousin said, “The incident occured at a water tank situated in the premises of a car cleaning shop. People from this shop called upon my brother, who lived close by, to clean the water tank in their premises. My brother stepped into the tank through a manhole, and they also lowered a pressurised water machine inside the manhole. When the machine was turned on, he got a shock from the it.”

“After the incident, the people who had called him for the job removed his body, cleaned it and took him to the trauma care hospital. Even though our home was close to the site, we were not informed about it,” Sunil said. Shankar was not provided any safety gear like masks or gumboots, he added.

Shankar, who worked as a contractual cleaner, is survived by a family of nine, including his two daughters, aged four and eight. Grieving for his cousin, Sunil Kurhade said he was “the only earning member of the family which consists of his wife, two young daughters, and his mother. Since his elder brother died last year, he was also looking after his brother’s wife and four children who were living in his house. With my brother gone, who is going to look after all of them? The family is devastated.”

As per police officials, the site of the accident was formerly a well, which had been filled up over time. “The water chamber was situated at the back and the shop in the front. They had roped in Shankar to clean the chamber before the monsoon sets in.”

Jidnyasa Arondekar, a social worker from Aakar Mumbai who has been helping the family told The Indian Express, “Shankar was a contractual worker who would carry out desilting works. He would usually work wherever appointed on contract basis work. On Tuesday, he was off duty and at home, and took up the offer to clean the tank for Rs 2,000 where the accident occured.”

Even as the family suspects death by electrocution, the cause is yet to be ascertained. “Once the post-mortem is conducted at Siddharth hospital, the cause of death will be ascertained. For now we have registered an accidental death report and are investigating to check if it was negligence on the part of those who employed him that led to the incident,” said Jayshree Gajbhiye, senior inspector of Jogeshwari police station.

Inputs from Vijay Kumar Yadav