Two residents of Sai Sadan chawl in Bhandup West were killed in a tragic incident on Saturday morning when the public toilet they were using collapsed. The fact that the toilet collapsed came as a shock to the victims' families and neighbours alike as they believed the structure seemed to be in a good condition.
The pubic toilet of area 15 x 20 sq feet collapsed around 6.30 am on Saturday. Almost all the residents of the chawl were asleep. "There was a loud sound like a building collapse and earthquake-like vibrations.
Considering the public toilet was located in the middle with all the houses surrounding it, all the residents felt the vibrations. As soon as they realised that two people were trapped in the collapse, they called the fire brigade. The deceased, identified as Labuben Jethava (42) and Babulal Devasi (45), had been living in the chawl for many years.
Jethava was a housewife and stayed with her husband and three children. "The Jethava family constructed a toilet in their house just last month. But Labuben was not comfortable with the commode seat toilet thus used the Indian style public toilet every day. She was in the habit of waking up by 6 am to begin her day. Her husband works as a tailor. It is unfortunate that she did not choose to use the toilet in her house," said Anita Parmar, Jethava's sister.
Devasi is survived by his wife and four sons, the eldest being 20-years-old and the youngest is two-years-old. Devasi worked in a shop. When he made the trip to the toilet, his wife was washing utensils while his children were asleep. His wife heard the sound of the collapse and ran out only to realise that her husband was trapped. Shanti Devasi told DNA, "I have nothing left in this city now. I am not literate to work and earn for my children's schooling. I will take them and go to our home town in Rajasthan."
"The toilet was constructed in 1982-83 and was repaired in 1995. It was not in a dangerous condition," said Rajendra Lawand, a resident who has been living in the colony since 1982. "Almost 80 per cent of the houses have toilets in their houses. Thus use of the public toilet was less. But the structure seemed strong and we never thought it would collapse all of a sudden," he added.
