Day after HC rap on Wadala tank deaths, BMC razes tenements

Mumbai:

A day after the Bombay High Court took suo motu cognisance of reports in HT regarding the death of two children, aged four and five years, who fell into in an underground water tank in Maharashi Karve garden at Wadala, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) demolished the family’s tenement on the footpath, leaving them defenceless against the sweltering summer heat and speeding vehicles.

“My children will not come back. But now, they have broken down our houses too,” said Manoj Wagari, father of the deceased Ankush and Arjun Wagari. “All I ask is that we be given a place to stay, so I can protect the children I have left.”

A photo of his deceased sons hung on the wall of what was once their home, beside a photo of goddess Lakshmi. The photo had a fresh garland on it, with March 18, 2024, the day the children died, printed beneath.

Till Tuesday morning, the footpath on either side of the Wadala bridge was enclosed by tenements made of patra (corrugated sheets), bamboo and tarpaulin, and the Wagaris lived in one such tenement. The corporation began demolishing tenements along this stretch on Tuesday; by Friday evening, all tenements had been razed.

Following the demolition, they were forced to squat in the open under the harsh sun, their belongings lying by the side of the road. A handful of the families strung up plastic sheets on bamboo poles for some shade, while the others sat helpless on mats on the footpath as vehicles sped past, leaving behind a trail of dust and fumes. Children spilled out onto the road at times, too close to speeding vehicles.

The residents claimed they had been living at the spot for over 25 years.

“I was born here in 1996,” said Sonya Kavithya, Manoj Wagari’s cousin. “We have an Aadhaar card, ration card, and voter ID with this address, Subhash Nagar,” she said as Wagari’s eight-year-old son, Mahesh, showed photos of his deceased younger brothers to other residents on his phone.

His father wondered whether there would be any justice for the death of his two sons. Kalidas Kolambkar, the local MLA, promised the family some compensation, but they had received nothing. Wagari also made two trips to the BMC’s F North ward office after the incident but returned empty-handed both times. He was not even aware that the park supervisor, Patiram Vikram Yadav, appointed by the contractor Hiravati Enterprises, had been arrested.

Although some BMC officials from the gardens department tried to shift the blame for the deaths on the slum dwellers, saying they would remove the lid of the water tank regularly to fetch water, the claim was vehemently opposed by residents.

“We get water for ₹5-7 per can from a spot located the end of the bridge, next to the public toilet. The water in that tank was dirty, not fit for use,” said Kavithya. Jivan Shivdasani, a regular walker in the garden, supported her, saying, “No one used the water tank because the water was filthy.”

By Friday, the BMC had also increased the height of the wall around the garden. The Wadala Citizens Forum had complained to the civic body multiple times about the low height of the wall which allowed miscreants free access to the garden, but nothing was done about it till after the fateful incident. The water tank too, covered with a plastic sheet on the day of the incident, had a newly placed lid. The two deceased children had entered the garden by jumping over the same wall and fallen into the tank, as reported by the HT on March 19 and 20.

On Thursday, taking suo motu cognisance of these reports, the Bombay HC asked, “What is the price of a human life in this city?” Holding the civic body accountable for the deaths, it said, “Are the so called ‘budgetary constraints’ of the BMC an answer to a failure to provide minimal safety precaution during civic works? There will be issues regarding civic responsibility, questions of negligence and financial responsibility as well, not just for the individual officers of the BMC but also for the corporation as a body.”

The HC asked why the BMC did not have a policy for compensation in cases of accidents and deaths due to its negligence, along the lines of the BEST undertaking.

Comments were sought from F North ward officer Chakrapani Alle, deputy municipal commissioner (gardens) Kishor Gandhi, and additional municipal commissioner (city) Ashwini Joshi, but none responded.