Thane: An eight-year-old boy drowned in a ‘nullah’ in Kalwa (Ashoknagar) area of Thane, while an 18-year-old boy allegedly lost his life in Malad. The latter, Nagendra Nagarjun, supposedly fell into a pit near Evershine Nagar in Malad (West) and drowned.
The 8-year-old, Ajya Kisan Pawar, who was playing nearby, fell into a pit dug up for railway work and was swept into the nearby nullah. A local resident said, “This pit was dug by the Railways to lay tracks under a bridge near Ashoknagar. We tried searching for the boy, but it was too late.” Later, the services of a disaster team were requisitioned, which managed to retrieve Ajay’s body that had drifted away. On Monday, it had rained heavily and many roads were waterlogged, making it difficult for even local residents to identify potholes. As it is, signboards warning pedestrians of such cavities are non-existent in the city.
In the second incident in Malad, wherein an 18-year-old lost his life, local residents said that the pit was dug by the BMC to pave the way for the rainwater to drain into a nullah. Kirti Keni, an Evershine Nagar resident, said, “He died before he could be taken to hospital. No one knows how he fell into the pit but his body was dripping with rainwater when the police arrived. The BMC staff and the ward officer should resign since they failed to act on the issue.”
However, contradicting the locals, the P/North ward corporator said that Nagarjun died in the adjacent mangrove area. BJP corporator Jaya Tiwana said, “He did not die by falling into a pit, manhole, drain or anything related to water. There has been a misunderstanding. He might have died in the mangrove area nearby. The area where he was found dead is not in the jurisdiction of the BMC. Even the child’s parents whom I met said that the boy had gone out with his friends. If there was something amiss, the friends would have informed them.”
Teen dies in wall collapse
In Ulhasnagar, a 15-year-old boy died while two of his family members were injured when a wall collapsed on their house at Vadolgaon on Monday morning. The deceased was identified as Kiran Dhavarkar while his father Suryakant and mother Asha suffered body injuries. On receiving the news, Ambernath fire official rushed to the spot and took them to Central Hospital where the boy died. The parents are being treated for their injuries.