Mumbai: Friends and family of Thane resident Ajay Athwal, a conservancy worker who went missing during the heavy rains last month and is feared to have drowned, conducted an extensive search on Wednesday. They, however, had to call off the search after an eight-hour effort yielded no results.
Mr. Athwal, a father of three, was expecting a fourth child with his wife. A resident of Ramwadi in Wagle Estate, Thane, his house was flooded on August 29 when heavy rains lashed Mumbai and Thane. Not only his residence, those of his neighbours and others in the locality too were flooded. Mr. Athwal helped some of his neighbours reach higher ground and was on his way back to his house when he lost balance, fell and was washed away. His body has still not been found.
Sanjay Bhalerao, his friend, said, “Around 36 of us gathered in Ramwadi, including Ajay’s relatives, friends, a lifeguard whose help we took and some Thane Municipal Corporation personnel. We waded through the nullahs in the area till we reached Kopri creek, and then proceeded by boat, searching for his body till Raghunath Nagar.” However, he said, there was no sign of Mr. Athwal.
The TMC and Thane Fire Brigade, too have searched for his body over the past month, but to no avail.
