Pimpri Chinchwad: Woman loses palm while segregating garbage, struggles to keep family afloat

“Even today when the world is celebrating women’s day, I and my family have no reason to celebrate. We hardly have any money to keep ourselves going,” said Laxmi Shinde, a mother of three kids.

Shinde lost her palm six months ago while segregating garbage at Rose Land Residential Society, located in Pimple Saudagar. Notably, the society got a 5-star rating in the “Green society” contest conducted by the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation last week.

“I was separating kitchen waste with my hands in the vermicomposting plant of the Rose Land Residential Society. I wore a pair of socks. While separating the garbage, my right palm got sucked into the shredder machine. As I pulled it back, I saw that the better part of my palm had come off. My fingers had turned into pieces and profuse blood was soaking out. Holding the palm, I ran to another part of the building. A few workers gave me a glass of water and wrapped my palm in a piece of cloth. From there I was taken to the hospital,” she said recalling her fateful experience.

The doctors severed the damaged part of her palm. “From that day onwards, I am finding it difficult to do household chores and manage my family. I have three children. My husband does not earn anything,” Shinde said.

Shinde said she has been making rounds of the PCMC and has been pleading with the residential society to help her get at least Rs 2.50 lakh. “I get Rs 5,500 salary per month from the society but I have to pay Rs 3,500 rent. It is just impossible to manage with such a meagre salary,” she said.

Shinde said the PCMC has refused to extend any help while the society has hardly paid her anything.

Chandan Chaurasia, a society member, said, “The incident is shocking. Our society should have given her adequate compensation from the Society Fund. Unfortunately, hardly anything has been done.”

Chaurasia alleged that the woman was not trained properly for the job. “I think skilled workers should have been given the job. On the face of it, it seems our society did not take enough safety precautions. I hope in future it will be more careful,” he said.

Chaurasia said he and a few society members had approached the PCMC administration, urging them to give some financial assistance to the woman. “Unfortunately, the PCMC said ours was a private society and that we should do the needful,” he said. When approached, PCMC officials said since the accident happened at the residential cooperative society, it should take responsibility of the woman worker.

Society chairman Santosh Mhaskar said, “The woman was appointed by a contractor. As per our agreement, the contractor is supposed to look after the safety of the workers in the vermicomposting plant. On his part, the contractor has paid the hospital bill, which was more than Rs one lakh. He had also given a few months’ salary to the woman even when she was unable to work.”

Mhaskar said the society had also given some relief to the woman. “I had put a message in our WhatsApp group. We collected around Rs 30,000 and gave it to her,” he said. The society has as many as 950 flats and is one of the biggest in Pimpri Chinchwad.

Chaurasia said, “If the society does not give adequate compensation to the woman, some of our members will keep fighting to give her justice. We hope to raise some funds for her.”