The missing crew on the Jaigarh-Mumbai bus (MH 20 BN 1538) included driver S.S. Kamble and conductor V.V. Desai, and the Rajapur-Borivali (MH40 9739) bus included driver Gorakhnath Munde and conductor P.B. Shirke.
A pall of gloom spread over Munde’s village in Parbhani district in Marathwada. Friends said the 46-year-old Mr. Munde, who hailed from a farming family, was of a gentle nature and had struggled hard to secure a job as a State transport bus driver.
At the Mulund residence of Ravindra Desai, a cousin brother of Vilas Desai, 44. Vilas and driver Kamble boarded the bus (MH 20 BN 1538) at Chiplun bus depot on Tuesday evening. “My cousin Vilas would visit our home once every week. He would arrive in Mumbai on the bus on Tuesday, and return on Wednesday. Now, we perhaps won’t be able to see him again,” said Mr. Desai, who works as a civil engineer with a Mumbai-based firm.
Mr. Desai said Vilas has left behind his wife, two children and aging parents.
“Vilas was active in the employees union at the Chiplun bus depot and always helped people. He also helped his brother-in-law recover from cancer,” said Mr. Desai.
He blamed the government for the tragedy. “This has brought darkness into the lives of so many, besides our family. Is the government going to support Vilas’ widow and two children?”
For the family of Mr. Kamble, 55, a resident of Sangli, it was a double tragedy: his 19-year-old son, Mahendra, an engineering student, was travelling with him for an interview in Mumbai.
“[Mr. Kamble] had especially requested the night journey as he had to take his son for a job interview. He was very proud of him. It is extremely sad,” said an ST bus official in Chiplun. Hailing from Kolhapur, Mr. Kamble settled down in Savarde near Chiplun a few years ago with his wife, Savitri, and his two sons.
On Tuesday, Kamble had asked Mahendra, to accompany him on the trip to Mumbai so that he could apply for admission at the VJTI polytechnic college in Matunga. Mahendra was seated next to him when the accident took place.
His elder son Milan, 22, had completed his education from Finolex engineering college at Ratnagiri and was in search of a job. Mahendra had completed his Standard XII with 81.85 per cent marks from a college in Savarde, and had selected VJTI during the online admission process. His family said Mr. Kamble was usually assigned to the Chiplun-Borivali route, but he was asked to take charge of the Jaigarh-Mumbai bus on Tuesday.
Hundreds gathered at the residence on Wednesday to console the family.
