Maharashtra: Man swept away in Nag river in 2006, widow gets Rs 1 lakh after 16 years

NAGPUR: Maya Tale, whose husband Dilip was swept away in Nag river in June 2006, received Rs 1 lakh compensation from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund on May 6, 2022. The 43-year-old widow, whose husband’s body was never found, did not back down over the last 15 years and 10 months in the fight to win compensation.
The compensation, though, eluded her when she needed it the most after her husband’s death, with two children, aged six and four years, and a mother-in-law to care for in the absence of her husband.
Dilip’s death had brought the world crashing down around Maya, who was a mere housewife then. The mother of two stayed with her mother-in-law at Shivaji Nagar near Gangabai Ghat. Dilip had gone missing after falling into a swollen Nag river late in the evening on June 18, 2006, after water from Ambazari lake was released to control the overflow.
Dilip, a rickshaw driver, had gone to relieve himself near the embankment of Nag river after returning home when he fell in. An onlooker had tried to drag him out but in vain.
With the help of social worker Vinod Ingole, Maya had begun making incessant rounds of the collector office, courts, police station and others places seeking compensation. “Everywhere I went, officials wanted only one thing from me, and that was proof of my husband’s death. As the body was never found, how could I prove he was not alive, though people had seen him swept away in the river,” she said.
It was a dual struggle for Maya, who had overnight been turned into the sole breadwinner of the family too. She could either work to try and feed the family, or take time out to try and get the compensation for her children’s future.
With an indomitable spirit, Maya worked as a domestic help and took up all sorts of cleaning and mopping work to raise her children and managed to get a contractual job as a ward attendant at Rashtrasant Tukdoji Cancer Hospital at Tukdoji Putla Chowk around a decade ago. Her son Akash is now a graduate working at a finance company while daughter Tejaswini is a post-graduate in commerce working at a chartered accountant’s firm.
Ingole said Maya was also helped by an advocate, who approached the court asking for intervention to declare Dilip dead. “The court declared Dilip dead as seven years had elapsed since Dilip went missing after falling into the Nag river,” said Ingole.
They also approached Congress MLA Vikas Thakare, who wrote to the collector office to release the compensation. “Collector R Vimala too took special care to expedite the process. We also approached the chief minister in Mumbai with a request to clear the approval for compensation,” Ingole said.
Maya said she will now try to ensure the compensation amount is spent on her children’s education and marriages. “Whatever their father would have done, I have tried to do the same for them. I feel if their father had been in my place, he too would have thought about spending the amount for the future of the children,” said Maya, who was visibly emotional but did not allow tears to roll out.