Vimladevi Chawl at Bihari Tekdi in Kandivali East, where Rushabh Tiwari, 9, and Tushar Jha, 11, were electrocuted on Monday, remains in darkness. Authorities are struggling to fix responsibility two days after the tragedy struck the narrow alleys of the chawl during Monday's rains, but many questions remain unanswered.
DNA visited the spot and residents bemoaned how the area faced incessant water logging year after year. A few live wires, escaping from the bunch connecting each household to the electric meter box, dangled dangerously close to an iron ladder that led to the mezzanine floor of a house. The boys are believed to have touched the wet ladder while playing and were electrocuted.
Rushabh's father, Gaurishankar Tiwari, still can't come to terms with his loss. "My son and his friend collapsed and were stuck on the ladder for over 45 minutes. Two children lost their lives in such a painful way," he mourned.
In the absence of an FIR, the police are unwilling to conduct a detailed investigation.
"As the families have refused to register a complaint, we will not take the case further than filing the Accidental Death Report (ADR), which we did on Tuesday. The cause of death as mentioned in the post-mortem report is unnatural death due to electric shock," said a senior officer from the Samta Nagar police station.
DNA spoke to a cross-section of officials to understand where the buck should stop and who should be held responsible for the mishap.
An e-mail to Adani Electricity seeking their response went unanswered. However, a spokesperson from the Adani group told DNA, "Our responsibility ends after installing the meter box in any locality, so it is wrong to blame us. As per standard operational protocol for such mishap, we immediately cut the power supply to the area." He said power would be restored to the area only after the Public Works Department inspector files a report.
The BMC ward officer of R Central ward pointed to the Disaster Control department and refused to comment.
"Two years back," said Asha Shukla, secretary of the chawl, "the then electricity supplier, Reliance Energy, offered a proposal to conceal all the hanging wires systematically. However, the residents rejected it fearing temporary power loss."
"Every year, there is water logging and the level rises up to 2 feet," said Mohankumar Jha, Tushar's uncle. "The PWD should work towards addressing this. The local corporator and MLA owe us answers."
The Tragedy
Three days later, the buck is still being passed around
- A few live wires came unbundled from the bunch running from the electric meter box to each home, and dangled close to the iron ladders leading to the upper reaches of the chawl.
- The ladder was wet, due to the first rain, and it conducted electricity and electrocuted the two boys playing nearby, who touched it
- Adani Power said their responsibility ended after installing of the meter box; BMC pointed to the Disaster Control dept. It is not clear who is in charge of maintenance of the electricity wires
